In 1961, Norman Garmezy moved from Duke University to the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. This move would prove to be a propitious one for the emergence of both resilience science and developmental psychopathology. Over the next three decades until his retirement, Garmezy played a pioneering role in research on the study of individuals, especially children, at risk for psychopathology and developmental problems; the study of resilience; and the marriage of developmental sciences with clinical sciences that produced the field of developmental psychopathology. Norm's research was transformed by this new context in many ways, and he in turn transformed the science and scientists, practice and practitioners, who were shaped by a unique confluence of people and ideas that came together at Minnesota.
This Special Section highlights Garmezy's contributions to developmental psychopathology. It is based on a symposium held at the University of Minnesota in October 2010 to celebrate his life and legacy following his death in 2009. Contributors to the special section include colleagues, collaborators, students, and “grandstudents” of Norm. It was not feasible to represent all aspects of his legacy in a special section, and the articles submitted and reviewed for this Special Section focus on only some of the major lines of research that were influenced by Norm. The transformative effect of his ideas on practice and policy could not be readily portrayed here, although the included science has profound implications for intervention and prevention, as noted in the articles. Nonetheless, the papers provide a sense of the extraordinary scope of Garmezy's impact on multiple fields of study and his catalytic role in the birth of developmental psychopathology and empirical studies of resilience.
It is also clear in the Special Section that Garmezy's personality played a central role in building the nexus of relationships and interactions that would give rise to new and integrative fields of inquiry. He was gregarious, funny, and generous, as well as brilliant and compassionate. This was a winning combination for bringing people together and facilitating change.
At Minnesota, Garmezy mingled with faculty and students from multiple departments, particularly those in the Department of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, and the Institute of Child Development. His colleagues in those departments included many internationally known scholars in assessment, behavior genetics, human development, personality, and other individual differences, quantitative methods, taxonomy, and other fields. He promoted a collaborative model of mentoring that brought diverse faculty, ideas, and talents together to foster the education of his students.
As a result, Garmezy played a major role in building ties among clinical psychology, child development, and behavior genetics at Minnesota and encouraged students to train across areas. With the help of colleagues in the Institute of Child Development as well as the Department of Psychology, Garmezy helped establish formal cross-training in the clinical and developmental sciences, in a collaborative training program, now called Developmental Psychopathology and Clinical Science. Many of the authors included in this Special Section were trained in both clinical psychology and child development, including the editors. Many additional leaders in developmental psychopathology were trained by Garmezy or his many colleagues, or subsequently by their students and colleagues at Minnesota and closely connected programs at other universities during the Garmezy years.
Norm's influence cascaded as his ideas and students spread. He was highly active in numerous professional organizations over the years (see Masten, Nuechterlein, & Wright, Reference Masten, Nuechterlein and Wright2011), and participated in many important conferences, meetings, research networks, and other activities that brought his infectious personality and ideas into contact with many other scientists and practitioners. He was the recipient of numerous awards for his contributions to science, its applications, and mentoring, including many of the highest honors bestowed by the international organizations he belonged to and an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academies of Science. A festschrift honoring Garmezy was published in 1990 (edited by five students he had mentored: Rolf, Masten, Cicchetti, Nuechterlein, & Weintraub, Reference Rolf, Masten, Cicchetti, Nuechterlein and Weintraub1990). Subsequently, a conference organized by the New York Academy of Sciences brought together many of his colleagues and students from resilience science; the resulting volume of articles was dedicated to Garmezy (Lester, Masten, & McEwen, Reference Lester, Masten and McEwen2006). This Special Section adds to the legacy but with a distinct look toward the future.
