Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 30, 2001

Volume 29, Number 24

Frank Keil

Psychologist Keil to head Morse College community

Frank Keil, a Yale psychologist who has received national awards for his work in cognition and cognitive development, has been named the next master of Morse College, President Richard C. Levin announced.

Keil's five-year term as master will begin on July 1. His wife, psychologist Kristi Lockhart, who is a lecturer and associate research scientist at Yale, will serve as associate master of Morse.

Keil, a professor of psychology and of linguistics, has focused his most recent work "on how children and adults grasp the world around them," Levin wrote in a letter to members of the Morse College community announcing the appointment. He is the author of "Semantic and Conceptual Development: An Ontological Perspective" and "Concepts, Kinds and Cognitive Development," and coeditor (with philosopher Robert Wilson) of both the "MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences" and "Explanation and Cognition." The "MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences" received the 1999 award for Outstanding Book in Psychology from the Association of American Publishers. Keil has also written numerous articles in the field of cognitive psychology and related fields.

Keil came to Yale from Cornell University, where he taught from 1977 to 1998. He was named the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Psychology in 1991. He was the cofounder and director of the Cognitive Studies Program at Cornell from 1987 to 1998 and also served as director of the Cognitive Studies in Context Project. He earned a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.A. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Lockhart, the new associate master, focuses her work on cognition and depression in children. She also taught at Cornell before coming to Yale, and received several awards there for undergraduate teaching. At Yale, she teaches the undergraduate course in abnormal psychology and upper-level courses on psychopathology. Next year she will teach a field-work course for undergraduates on clinical psychology in the community.

The Kiels' oldest son, Derek Kiel, is a Yale College sophomore who resides in Jonathan Edwards College. In his letter, Levin noted that although Derek is a "loyal Spider, and will remain one ... he looks forward to the pleasures of the Morse master's house." The Kiels will be joined in Morse by their two younger sons, 11-year-old Martin, who attends The Foote School, and 15-year-old Dylan, a student at The Hopkins School. The Kiels, who currently reside in Sachem's Head in Guilford, are avid sailors, Levin noted.

"Fans of Basie and Zelda, the present master and associate master's two dogs, will be pleased to hear that accompanying the Kiels will be Sasha, an especially friendly Lhasa Apso, who is three years old and is looking forward to the attention from undergraduates she will no doubt consider her due," Levin said in his letter to the Morse College community.

Levin also praised the contributions of current master Stanton Wheeler and his wife, associate master Marcia Chambers, "who for six years have given themselves heart and soul to the Morse community," he said. He added, "Stan and Marcia have galvanized Morse ... creating in the college a special energy and spirit. From marvelous master's teas to informal discussion on journalism, from arranging special study breaks to cheering on and championing intramurals, from arranging great evenings of jazz with the master on trumpet to initiating knitting classes, the Wheelers have helped make Morse a close community that truly merits the designation 'home away from home.'"

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Psychologist Keil to head Morse College community

Psychiatrist Schottenfeld to serve at Davenport College

Merson discusses 'heart and soul' of public health

'Yale, America and the World'

'300 Years of Creativity and Discovery'

Special postcard salutes Yale in its tercentennial year

Noted alumni to advise School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

Yale Opera stages musical retelling of Goethe's 'Faust'

Human rights during the Bush administration is topic of symposium

Study suggests ways to motivate women to get mammograms

Two-day conference to explore ways to foster peaceful relations . . .

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