In Memoriam: Richard Allen Schmidt (1941 – 2015)

Abstract

Presents an obituary of Richard Allen Schmidt (1941-2015). Richard was an intellectual leader in motor learning and control, and the founder and founding editor of the Journal of Motor Behavior. Richard majored in math and physical education as an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley. Richard hired as an assistant professor in the Physical Education department at the University of Maryland in 1967, then he moved on to positions at the University of Michigan in 1970, the University of Southern California in 1974, and to UCLA in 1980. His final career move within the university system was to the department of psychology at UCLA, from which he retired in 1999. Richard's empirical contributions expanded over five decades and included the contributions of many graduate students and colleagues. He also published large-scale reviews in three books on motor control and learning. Richard's next major theoretical contribution challenged the often held belief that the speed-accuracy trade-off, known as Fitts' Law was the result of limitations in visual feedback processing. Richard had shifted much of his research attention back to issues concerning motor learning, and tackled augmented feedback, particularly knowledge of results as a prime target. During his illness, he refused to be depressed. He was the scientist to the end. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)