The University Record, October 29, 1997
Alexander Makarewich
Alexander J. Makarewich, financial manager in the Financial Operations office, died Oct. 19 in Bloomington, Ind., of a possible heart attack. He was 58.
Makarewich was born May 12, 1939, in Highland Park. He earned a B.A. in accounting from Eastern Michigan University in 1962, served with the U.S. Army in 1962-63, and with the Michigan National Guard until 1966.
He was hired as an accountant at the U-M in 1966 and received several promotions in his 31 years with the University. He was responsible for gifts and designated funds, general accounts receivable and student financial operations. In addition, for m ore than a year, he had been devoting 50 percent of his time to the M-Pathways Project, a new student information system.
I knew Alex well and was shocked and terribly saddened by his sudden death, said Chandler Matthews, interim executive vice president and chief financial officer. ³His diligence, patience, hard work, and particularly his very caring nature, inspired all who were fortunate to have been associated with him. He contributed immensely to the University through his skills and love. He will be missed.
Makarewich is survived by his wife, Patricia; sons, Patrick and Jon; and daughter, Marianne.
Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of your choice.
Edward L. Walker
Edward L. Walker, professor emeritus of psychology, research psychologist and teacher, died Oct. 13 after a long illness.
Walker devoted much of his professional life to the study of human motivation and learning. He also contributed to such diverse fields as the study of learning in laboratory animals, night vision in pilots, human problem-solving, experimental aesthet ics and the social psychology of conformity. He was known to his graduate students and colleagues for his intellectual rigor, delightful sense of humor and his wisdom.
He was the author of 11 books and numerous articles and book reviews.
The central theme of much of Walker¹s research and theorizing was a challenge to the vision of motivation and learning that dominated psychology when he entered the field in the late 1940s. At the time, both Freudian psychoanalysis in clinical psycho logy and behavioristic theory in experimental psychology saw human motivation as driven entirely by biologically insistent impulses such as hunger, thirst and sex, implying that once these drives are satisfied, nothing more is sought. Walker insisted the human beings and even animals are not simply driven, but, given a choice, will prefer challenge to passivity, complexity to sameness. He developed evidence for this point of view in an amazing variety of contexts from the study of rat behavior in a simp le maze to the study of musical preferences among college students.
Walker¹s professional honors included serving as president of the Midwestern Psychological Association and of Division 10 of the American Psychological Association and receipt of a Career Research Award from the National Institutes of Mental Health. This award allowed him to spend much of his professional life on research, theorizing and writing.
He was a fellow of the American Psychological Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
Walker was born June 18, 1914, in Connersville, Ind. He received his B.A. and master¹s in psychology from Indiana University. Following graduation, he was a junior clinical psychologist in the Indiana Department of Corrections, then pursued addition al graduate work at the University of Iowa and Stanford University. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. Following the war and completion of his doctorate in experimental psychology at Stanford University, he joined the U-M, helping a small depar tment grow into one of the largest and most prestigious.
Following his retirement in 1980, he wrote a series of essays and remembrances, recalling his life in Connersville, his experience as a prison psychologist, being a witness to an atomic test in 1952 and his life as a graduate student.
His first wife, Alice, and his son, Bruce, preceded him in death. He is survived by his second wife, Kathryn; sister Mary Janice McGraw, Connersville; stepsons William and Robert Sage; and four grandchildren.
Submitted by the family.
