Susan Ervin-Tripp (1927-2018)

This article memorializes Susan Ervin-Tripp (1927-2018). Ervin-Tripp earned a doctoral degree in social psychology in 1955 from the University of Michigan. Her dissertation examined the link between bilingualism and cognition, which led her to a career in psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics, two fields that she helped to establish. She worked on the Southwest Project in Comparative Psycholinguistics and studied effects of Native American languages on cognitive processes, and taught at the Harvard School of Education. In 1958, she took a position at the University of California (UC) Berkeley, where she remained until she retired as a full Professor of Psychology in 1999. Throughout her long and productive career, Ervin-Tripp was a path-breaker, and the paths she helped explore have become well-traveled roads. It is remarkable to see so many innovations in one life story: psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics, new directions in the study of first-language acquisition as well as bilingualism, applying new technology in her research, and forging the way for gender equity in the UC system. Her investigations of the status of women faculty led to the creation of a Standing Committee on the Status of Women, which she chaired. She was also an active leader in other groups on campus, including the League of Academic Women. Ervin-Tripp repeatedly documented pay inequity for both faculty and staff, representing the UC system to legislative committees in Sacramento. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).