Attached to Mary

By Richard McCarty
Executive Director for Science

At the APA Annual Convention in San Francisco this month, the American Psychological Foundation will award its Gold Medal for Scientific Contributions to Mary D. Salter Ainsworth, Commonwealth Professor Emerita of Psychology at the University of Virginia. In addition, Mary will also be a co-recipient of the first Mentoring Award presented by Div. 7 (Developmental), her scientific home within APA. These are the most recent in a long list of awards that Mary has received over the years in recognition of her substantial and enduring impact on the field of developmental psychology. In fact, it is difficult to encounter a scientific presentation of theoretical and empirical research in the field of infant attachment that does not mention her work. While many research papers today have limited impact on a given field of inquiry, Mary?s work has stood the test of time. Indeed, her research will no doubt influence researchers in infancy, social development and related areas for decades to come. Along the way, she has trained a host of outstanding scholars at the Johns Hopkins University and later at the University of Virginia. These students are an important aspect of the Ainsworth legacy.

I have had the pleasure of being 'attached' to Mary Ainsworth since 1978, when I was appointed an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. Jim Deese, the chair of the department at Virginia, had recruited Mary away from Johns Hopkins in 1974. Jim knew Mary quite well, as he had also been the chair of the psychology department at Hopkins prior to moving to Virginia. Mary remains one of the great recruiting coups in the history of the University of Virginia. As I prepare this column, I am thinking about the personal and professional qualities that set Mary apart.

The Ainsworth career

By way of background, Mary received her BA, MA and PhD degrees from the University of Toronto. Within three years after receiving her PhD, she joined the Canadian Army and served during World War II as a consultant to the director of personnel selection, attaining a final rank of major. In 1950, she joined a research group at the Tavistock Clinic in London that was examining the effects of maternal separation in early childhood on personality development. It became clear in short order to Ainsworth and her colleague, John Bowlby, that they needed to understand the development of normal parent-offspring relationships before they could evaluate the effects of disruptions of the parent-child bond. Soon after beginning this research, Mary went to Kampala, Uganda where she was affiliated with the East African Institute for Social Research. While there, she conducted a longitudinal study of the development of mother-infant attachment, which resulted some years later in an important monograph, 'Infancy in Uganda: Infant Care and the Growth of Love.' This path-breaking study is still referenced by developmental researchers.

Within a few years, Mary joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins, thus marking the beginning of her indelible impact on her students, both undergraduate and graduate student. The list is much too long to include in this brief column. Suffice it to say they include major figures in the field of developmental and clinical psychology. Many others have been influenced by her work and sought membership in the extended Ainsworth family. The depth of feeling each has for her is beyond description. Rather than attempt the impossible, let me share some of my feelings about Mary.

The nature of my attachment to Mary

Mary epitomizes for me the highest ideals of our profession. She accomplished a great deal in her legendary career but she was always generous in sharing credit with her students and colleagues. In many ways, her home became an extension of her office, and countless students sought her wise counsel and enjoyed her marvelous hospitality. She was also generous with her faculty colleagues, and she made everyone around her better. Don?t ask me how, she just did!

As we approach the end of the 20th century, it is humbling to consider the impact Mary Ainsworth continues to have on the discipline of psychology and related fields. Of equal importance is her influence on those who have been privileged to know and love her. I hope it is evident why I remain so securely attached to Mary.