Daniel Katz (psychologist)


Daniel Katz was an American psychologist, Emeritus Professor in Psychology at the University of Michigan and an expert on organizational psychology.

Biography

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Katz received his MA from the University of Buffalo in 1925, and his PhD from the Syracuse University in 1928 under Floyd Henry Allport, founder of the American experimental social psychology.
In 1928 Katz started his academic career at the faculty of Princeton University. In World War II Katz did government research in Washington with a group of social scientist under Rensis Likert, who eventually founded the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. In 1943 Katz went to the Brooklyn College, where he headed the psychology department. From 1947 to 1974 his academic career culminated at the University of Michigan where he was Professor in the Department of Psychology and fellow at the Institute for Social Research. Here Katz cooperated with Theodore Newcomb, who founded Michigan's doctoral program in social psychology and he chaired the program from 1947 to 1953. In honor of both since 1970 the University of Michigan organizes an annual Katz-Newcomb Lecture.
Katz was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Psychological Association, the Lewin Award of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the Award of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, the Award of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Work

Katz produced classic studies of racial stereotyping and prejudice, and attitude change, and his pursuit of the connections between individual psychology and social systems helped to found the field of organizational psychology. An important methodological contribution was his open system theory, presented in The Social Psychology of Organizations, which was co-authored by Robert L. Kahn.

Publications

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