Irving E. Alexander *49

Irving E. Alexander, an emeritus professor of psychology at Duke University, died Jan. 3, 2007, of a heart attack. He was 84.

At Duke, Alexander served 11 years as department chair, and taught, counseled, trained, and consulted at the Durham Veterans Administration Hospital and in the Halifax County school system.

Among his contributions to psychological research were his efforts (with Silvan Tomkins) to posit that emotional states, and not unconscious drives (which was Freud’s belief), are the primary factors in human behavior.

During World War II, Alexander served as a bombardier, and completed 35 missions over Germany. He then completed his bachelor’s at the University of Alabama and earned a master’s in experimental psychology. In 1947, he entered Princeton and by 1949 completed a second master’s and a Ph.D. in psychology. His dissertation helped bring about the now-standard requirement that airfield workers wear protective ear-gear.

He rose to associate professor at Princeton before leaving in 1958 for an administrative position at the National Institute of Mental Health. In 1962, he joined Duke as a full professor.

He was predeceased by his wife, Pearl, whom he married while on military leave in 1944. He is survived by two children and three grandchildren.