ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION In a volume dedicated to the contributions and influence of Samuel Messick, it seems most appropriate that I begin this chapter with an account of the role that Sam played in my intellectual development and professional career. I joined the ETS Research Division in the Fall of 1959 and stayed for 10 years. My first year there was spent rather unhappily outside of Sam Messick’s Personality Research Group, and I recall seriously contemplating the possibility of leaving for an academic position elsewhere. Sam, however, arranged a transfer to his Research Group, and made it possible for me to flourish at ETS for the remainder of my stay there.