Zvjezdana (aka “Z,” Randy’s wife)
I am still discovering my Randy, richness of his mind, pure goodness of his soul, endless love for family and friends, profound wisdom for people he met and many he inspired with his kindness and gentleness. Sharing his knowledge to students, with tackling their curiosity and passion for learning were many of his inner goals in academic life. With wideness of his interests (knife making, wood working, metal engraving) he created exquisite pieces with his hands that radiate the beauty of his artistic soul. It is greatest gift of knowing Randy, and I feel he is still living in the hearts of many people he touched through his life. For sure I feel Randy with me all the time.
Ana and Tom (Randy’s children)
Trying to decide what to write about our dad has been difficult since he was accomplished at everything he wanted to master. Not only was our dad a renowned psychologist, but he also was an incredible artist. He skillfully crafted a variety of knives, he was an engraver, a jewelry maker, a photographer, wood crafter...he could create practically anything with just his hands and a few tools. As his children, we were lucky to see his art at every stage in the process. As you can tell by the other people in his life who helped contribute to this article, he was a master of many other skills in the different stages of his life. He was a pretty good runner way back when. He was a strong wrestler when he was younger, a great best friend to Dennis through the countless stories he recounted to us in his college years, an accomplished writer when he started getting his academic work published, and an invigorating lecturer throughout his professional career. What made our dad an incredible person was that anything he dedicated himself to within or outside of work, he developed a talent for, with an innate attention to detail and care. He demonstrated this trait most importantly in his role as a father, husband, and friend. What made him an incredible father was that he always set aside his talents to support us at our level.
Ana: In sixth grade, I wanted to participate in our school’s “bazaar” where students and teachers would sell their hand-made crafts. At the time, I was interested in the polished gemstones and jewelry my Dad crafted. Even though his work consisted of stunning wire-wrapped pendants and intricate metalwork, every night leading up to the bazaar, we would sit in the basement for hours, gluing pre-bought necklace backings onto gemstones (that he polished and shaped ahead of time). Although my stand at the bazaar didn’t hold a candle to his usual creations, my Dad always made me feel proud to stand behind my work.
Tom: Some of my most positive memories of my Dad are when we would talk at length about something I learned at school that day, or something interesting I read on the news. Or, maybe the conversation would start from something about his psychology classes that day, or something interesting he was working on, personally or professionally. This would spiral into hours and hours of conversation about other related topics, and these are some of my favorite memories because he was a vessel of knowledge. I always came from those conversations a more educated man. I am sure many others can relate to this sentiment after talking to my Dad, and we are all richer people for having known him. He built a foundation in my sister and me of respect, patience, honesty, and humility, and I know he would be happy that we aim to carry these traits in everything we do in our lives. I encourage everyone else reading this to do the same because that is what made my Dad an amazing human.
Our Dad will be missed by all who he touched in his life. We are the most lucky to be able to call him our father, but so are the many others who had the pleasure of being able to call him a friend, professor, colleague, husband, mentor, and inspiration.
Stew Larsen (Randy’s brother)
Randy and I grew up like most boys in the 60’s. We played baseball, football, and were 3 years apart in school. We were both curious about many things that we would encounter in our every day world. I believe that this curiosity we shared brought us together as we grew, even into our adult years. I won’t claim that all of our curious adventures were without mischief. It was wonderful to have a brother that shared the drive to explore. In 1981 Randy and I ran the Chicago Marathon together. Our curiosity was certainly tested in that pursuit.
Our lives were separated when we went to College and then into our chosen careers. At one point we had not seen each other for 15 years. When we finally got together we found that we had so many characteristics in common. We ordered the same coffee at Starbucks, same watch, and loved the outdoors. Although we didn’t recognize it when we reunited the curiosity streak was alive and well.
As the years went by and our families grew Randy and I remained close. If we fast forward to approximately 2010 I became aware of a new hobby Randy was pursuing. He converted his garage into a woodworking shop. Shortly thereafter he added knife making to his venue. He sought out a source to add engraving to his knife making. Randy was successful in these efforts and joined a Knife Makers Club. I have no idea how many knives Randy made over the ensuing years but it was many. During one of my visits I asked Randy if I could buy a knife for a gift. He replied that he just finished a knife show and didn’t think he had many knives remaining. He brought out his inventory and it covered an entire ping pong table.
What most people don’t know is that Randy also loved to make unique gifts that he gave to family members as gifts at Christmas. All of these gifts were handmade. Many of these gifts were woodwork, handmade belt, salt shaker, wooden bowels, infused olive oil, and others. He felt joy in giving these gifts to family.
Randy was a brother, a husband, father, academic, and friend to many. To me he was a Serial Hobbyist that had a curious mind and the urge to follow his interests!
Anita Prizmic (Z’s sister)
If I had to choose a husband for my sister I could not have chosen a better one. I admired his serenity, composure and knowledge. We always loved when he was with us in Dubrovnik, my children loved him and tried to learn English by talking with him, (most of the time pretending they understood what he was saying). Even my dog was happy to see him. Although Randy visited once per year, she knew that Randy would always pet her and give her treats.
He always knew how to fix different things around the house, and had wise advice when there was any problem. He would always bring something new for the boat and fishing which he loved to do, like his love to drive his motorbike around the town too. I still drive that small motorbike with his big helmet, and that way part of him is always with me.
Mary Pat Larsen (Randy’s sister)
Randy was a unique individual indeed!
Randy the traveler: He truly enjoyed nature, he had beautiful vegetable gardens, he loved to fish, not just throw a line in the water, he fly fished often in remote locations in Canada whereby he had to be flown in, dropped off and picked up 5 days later! He had many the lizards, snakes, and miniature alligators as a young adult. Once that phase passed, he ALWAYS had a dog (or two). Randy was an Eagle Scout and earned numerous badges along the way.
Randy the teacher: Our mother used to tell the story that she would drop Randy at school and by the time she returned home he had ran home begging not to go back. Then once he began liking school he never left, instead made a career of it.
Randy the athlete: Randy was a wrestler, football player, and a marathon runner.
The curious Randy: He completely dismantled a Volkswagen beetle only to start with frame and put it back together complete and gave it to me. I had that car for several years.
The gentle side: Randy didn’t show much emotion, but his actions spoke loud and clear. During his internship he chose to work at a home for “troubled” teenagers. He always brought one or two of them home for Christmas and Easter so they could experience family an a home cooked meal. Even when the internship was over he continued to volunteer for two more years. When I went to college, Randy wrote me numerous letters always encouraging me. Randy rarely spoke about himself, he was far more interested in others and he made that known.
In summary my brother was humble, selfless, kind, curious, mischievous and someone who left a lasting impression indeed!
Jan Duchek
We live in the same general neighborhood as the Larsens. On many occasions, especially in more recent years, as I was taking my neighborhood run, I would see Randy walking his beloved dog. We would invariably stop to chat. After our chats, I was always struck by two things. First, Randy would always ask how and what I was doing and he wanted to know the latest news of my family. But the most salient thing I remember from our conversations was the way in which Randy spoke about his family - with a smile on his face and a sparkle in his eye. His love and admiration for Z and his overwhelming pride and enduring love for Tomi and Ana permeated every conversation.
Dennis McCarthy (Randy’s best friend from high school)
I can relay something that was a good laugh for us. We lived together for 4 years at Loras, one in the dorm and 3 in the funeral home and we were close friends in HS. It was well known that I was a bit hyper and very confident. Now back in the day I was 5' 9" and 140lbs Randy was 5' 10" plus and pushing 200lbs. He was known to be one of the strongest guys in our class and certainly one of the sweetest. He was very easy going, everybody loved him. As I would drive friends crazy, they would look at Rand and ask "How can you live with this guy." He would calmly say, " Once a month or more I beat the hell out of him whether he needs it or not." There was more than a grain of truth to that statement. We had some legendary tassels that usually ended up with us laughing hysterically.
The first time I met Zvjez was at the wedding, I had heard about her for some time but we never met or spoke. She was very excited and had lots of energy, so I wrote it off as wedding day excitement. As I got to know her I realized she was strong minded and very high energy. One night years later and a bit into our cups I pointed that out to him and he laughed, "remind you of anyone, " which I nodded and he told me we work it out and it's more fun than what you and I did.
I guess opposites really do attract.
==
I thought of something else, this is one of my best memories: Randy and I were both in the same fraternity. It was the jock frat. Randy was in the frat first I was two or three pledge classes behind. Now this was the early to mid 70's and there was lots of hazing going on back then. Loras had a great intramural athletic program, with a student body of under 1,300 at the end of the year over 2,000 students participated so many did multiple sports. Basketball had just started and the frat had two teams one that was very serious and competitive the other was for fun. Randy was talking to the guys that ran the fun team, Che's Gorillas. He told them I was the best point guard in our HS but I didn't play BB because I was better at wrestling and didn't like the coaches.
I didn't play BB, didn't care for the game, couldn't play a lick. He told the guys I would deny my skills and say the ball was too big, I couldn't even dribble. They totally believed him and ordered me to be at the gym at 8PM the next day for the opening game of the season.
Well not even 5 minutes into the game the captain calls time out and comes over and puts his arm around me and says," So Randy was having some fun with all of us." Just then from the stands Randy calls out "Don't worry he is just warming up." There was a lot of laughing as I was headed to the bench.
Tom and Gail Oltmanns
Randy was one of my closest and most valued colleagues. He was instrumental in helping us move from the University of Virginia to Washington University and clearly played a significant role for many years as the leader of our department. There are so many professional memories from those days, including his support for the clinical program and my own research as well as his generous willingness to serve as a mentor to our son, Josh, when he made his occupational transition from music to psychology.
Gail and I have so many wonderful memories of times spent with Randy and Z and their children, Tom and Anna. For example, we once planned a weekend in Memphis surrounding a psychology meeting. Gail and Z visited various museums while Randy and Tom gave talks at the meeting. We still enjoy looking at photos of that trip, including a fun night on Beale Street. Other special stories are connected to times when our children and grandchildren visited STL for holiday gatherings. For example, on one special Christmas eve, Randy played Santa for the kids. After dinner, he slipped outside to put on his Santa suit (including Groucho Marks glasses which he thought would help the disguise). Although our grandkids may have suspected that it was Randy, they thoroughly enjoyed his enthusiastic performance!
One of our most prominent memories is about the time when Randy and Z invited us to join them and their kids in Dubrovnik for several days. They welcomed us warmly and entertained us continuously in that beautiful city, including a day on their boat. We swam in an idyllic cove and spent a relaxing afternoon at their favorite beach. Later, they took us to dinner and drinks at the port’s historic castle. We also had a fabulous dinner with Z’s mother in the home they shared with her. Randy and Z’s gracious hospitality during that trip is something we will never forget.
Cheri Casanova
I have many fond memories of Randy, but some of the nicest ones were when it wasn’t crazy busy and he would sit in my office and we would talk about our kids, how life was going and his travels to Croatia with Z and the kids. He talked often about his hobby and often shared the beautiful pieces he made with me. Such a kind and genuine person and I was so fortunate to have worked with him during his time as chair.
Ed Macias
I got to know Randy when he first came to Washington University. He was an excellent faculty member in so many ways - teaching, research and interaction with colleagues. Roddy Roediger, the Psychology Department Chair at the time was extremely enthusiastic about adding Randy to our department. When Randy became Department Chair we worked closely together on faculty hiring, Department funding, and curriculum. I remember Randy as being very open and trustworthy. I enjoyed working with him very much.
John Baugh
Semantic somersaults: Interpreting “clever” experiments in psychology and linguistics.
Randy Larsen chaired the department when I was hired. As incoming director of African and African American Studies, then operating as a program, questions arose regarding the best academic home for me, a linguist. Some of my work is experimental and Randy became familiar with my experimental studies of housing discrimination. His exceptional leadership was juxtaposed in equal measure with kindness, and he complimented me; “Your experiments are very clever.” He was stunned when I appeared to be taken aback; I said, “No, no they’re not.” He was rightly confused, explaining to me that “clever experiments” were highly regarded in psychology and his comment was intended to be praiseworthy. The moment was somewhat awkward, and I thanked him for the clarification.
Shortly after Deanna was appointed as Chair, Randy and I were sitting together during a faculty meeting when it occurred to me that I had never clarified my initial reaction. I pointed out that some linguists often describe “clever research” is slightly derisive terms. Analytical shortcuts, loopholes and occasional deceptions were sometimes attributed to “clever” analyses, but Randy had no way of knowing that. I then told him that the highest praise that can be bestowed upon the best linguistic research is to describe it as “elegant.” He paused, glanced upward momentarily before smiling and slowly nodding his head in the affirmative before saying, “Thanks for clearing that up.”
Brian Carpenter
Randy joined our Introduction to Psychology teaching team several years ago, a return to entry-level undergraduate teaching after many years focused on upper-level and graduate teaching. Known throughout the department as a great teacher, what impressed me when Randy joined Intro Psych was his enthusiasm for sharing some of the classic ideas and research in psychology and his respect for the students, many of whom were taking psychology for the very first time. He loved their curiosity, their eagerness to learn, their good questions and fascination with experiments and findings those of us in the field a long time often take for granted. My office was acros the hall from Randy's, and I know from our conversations that teaching Intro Psych reinvigorated Randy's love for our field, and it was clear that he was so happy to be sharing it with others.
Josh Jackson
I miss his deep knowledge of psychology and the ability to describe it in the most unassuming way – even when it was about his own work. I remember during my job talk someone asked a pointed question about an effect size estimate and whether or not it was practically meaningful. After what I am sure was a bumbling answer by myself, Randy chimed in and bailed me out. I witnessed this behavior numerous times in brownbag across many different topics where he asked a “question,” but it wasn’t a question at all, rather it was an opportunity to impart some wisdom. These non-question questions in lectures are easily a top 5 trope of academia, but somehow, Randy always evaded the pitfalls. He helped everyone in a non-condescending and clear way, never pushing his own work or trying to one up someone based on his brilliance. He was just kindly helping everyone in the room, passing on his accrued knowledge.
This unassuming brilliance extended to research conversations with him. One time I was talking to him about a novel-to-me way to conceptualize fluctuations in personality. The lab and I thought we came up with a completely new way to view personality and were excited to share our ideas. Randy discussed the topic with such insight that I was amazed by his ability to pick up on these “novel” ideas so quickly. After some time, he casually inserted that he did a study on that topic, a few decades ago, completely deflating my novel study idea. I wish I could admit that this was the only time where Randy anticipated a study idea by a few decades, but, in reality, it happened more times than I can remember. Every time he was warm, kind, and willing to discuss it further. Scholarly, he was way ahead of his time. Personally, he was the ideal colleague: kind, considerate, and helpful.
Michael Eid
I first came into contact with Randy when we both decided to publish a Festschrift for our esteemed academic teacher Ed Diener on the occasion of his 60th birthday. The collaboration worked wonderfully and we were able to attract and support many authors. Unfortunately, keeping the project secret from Ed didn't work out and he somehow found out about it. This prompted Randy to organize a symposium at Washington University in St. Louis to present the Festschrift, which was published by Guilford Publisher. Randy invited me to spend the days before the symposium at his house. I was able to meet Randy's family and spent a few wonderful days there. Randy was very accommodating, did a lot with me in the city and I was able to get to know him as a loving family father and spouse. Randy had a wonderful sense of humor, was very friendly and very respectful of other people. I always felt very comfortable in his presence. The symposium he organized was a great success and Ed really appreciated the event and the book. We then met again at a conference in Berlin and spent a wonderful conference dinner evening with Zvjezdana. We stayed in casual e-mail contact and Randy kept me informed about Ed's death and his funeral. I was very shocked and sad when I searched the internet for a more recent work of Randy and saw that Randy had also died far too young. I will always remember Randy very fondly; he was a wonderful collegial friend and a great person.
Colleen Seifert
One of my many memories of Randy Larsen demonstrated his true greatness: He could do anything. He incisively shot down my personality theories, pointed out pathological behavior live but discreetly during faculty meetings, and published more high-quality articles every year than most of us read. So when my new kitten climbed to the top of a tree and got stuck, who did I call? As unlikely as it seems, Randy was there in 20m minutes, took off his watch and dress shoes, and shimmied to the top of the slender tree. The sky darkened and started raining, and I was terrified for both of them. He and the kitten waved back and forth in the wind, and then made the long climb down together. Without knowing Randy, you may not think of him in such an emergency; but, I found that in science as well as life, Randy was a jack of all trades.
Kim Mercer
Listed below are some of my favorite memories of Randy:
Randy introduced me to a construct he called “the pipeline,” which is the idea that you should have a continuous stream of projects, with something in each stage of development, at all times. That way if one project stalls, attention can be shifted to other tasks, which helps to maintain continuous forward movement towards completing project goals. This is a construct I continue to use in my daily work, and when reviewing my task list, I can still hear him say, “What’s in the pipeline?”
Randy taught me that a good scientist questions everything, and vets all knowledge through a lens of critical analysis before accepting it as fact, even when that information comes from expert sources. Accordingly, after department presentations given by outside speakers, he would often ask for my impressions of the talk and encourage me to identify the parts of the talk that had less logical and scientific credibility.
My fellow grad students and I used to joke about the quizzical look of confusion that Randy would give us when we said something that he felt was not scientifically or logically sound—a sentiment that was captured by his furled eyebrows. We came to affectionately refer to this facial expression as “the eyebrows”, as in, “He gave me ‘the eyebrows.’” This experience captures the collective sentiment in the lab that Randy was subtle, humble, and kind, even when expressing dissent about the ideas being articulated—with his subtle expression of doubt via “the eyebrows” rather than through verbal criticism.
I was preparing to teach my first university course one summer as an independent instructor. As it was my first time teaching a university course on my own, I was nervous and apprehensive about this upcoming experience. Randy was preparing to leave for his annual summer trip to Croatia, but told me that I could call him on his cell phone if I needed anything, even though international cell phone calls were quite expensive at that time. I really appreciated his offer of support, even during a time when he would be on vacation. (And no, I did not end up calling him, and the class went fine.)
Randy was devoted to his family, and this love and devotion for them was evident, even in his work. As such, his family was often seamlessly integrated into his work life, and vice versa.
- Randy told me that he set aside time to study the Croatian language regularly “for love”, and so that he could better understand his wife Z’s cultural context, and be emotionally close to her.
- When discussing the construct of affective self-regulation and the fact that people use activity engagement to cope with negative emotions, Randy said that when he experiences negative emotions, “I go home and play with my kids.”
- I remember a time when I was new to the lab, and Randy brought his young children to the building. His kids didn’t know me, and started crying when I greeted them. Randy launched into a developmental psychology lecture about “stranger danger”, and how children being wary of strangers is adaptive (and was not a negative reflection on me). I found it both interesting and heart-warming that he used this event in everyday life as an opportunity to share his expertise in emotion.
Ljiljana Kaliterna
Randy was a very dear friend of mine and a husband of my dearest friend and colleague Zvjezdana. It is not easy to find words to describe such a wonderful person who was always friendly, full of knowledge and understanding, and with very sophisticated sense of humor. We laughed a lot when we were together, siting in cafes or restaurants all around the world, as we were usually meeting at some conferences. For me, the best of his many virtues was a total lack of vanity. In Croatia we would say – Randy was vaccinated against vanity. On few occasions when he visited Croatia and was given a talk on his work to Croatian psychologists-academics, people would usually comment – how normal he is! You expect a different attitude and self-presentation in somebody with such professional achievements. Randy was a famous person, almost celebrity in academic world, but he was always looking and acting as an ordinary man – normal person. And in fact, he was extraordinarily clever, full of professional knowledge in various scientific fields, friendly and ready to help both professionally and privately. If these characteristics are normally distributed in the population, then Randy was highly above normal range. I simply love him, and I intentionally didn’t say it in the past tense, as feelings for such unique people never fade away.
Joan Dewey
The first time I met Randy was when Roddy Roediger asked me to show him around St Louis. Zvjezdana was not in town yet so I asked Randy where he would like to live. As with the majority of WashU staff he said, "close to the university". After a few minutes he added that he did love nature and would not mind seeing a couple of homes on acreage. So, after checking out UC and Clayton off we went west. We looked at two homes, both on three acres, and he really liked one of them and remarked, "Let's put this one on the list for Zvjezdana to see." When Zvjezdana came into town to house hunt I asked what type of home she would like. She told me she preferred not getting on highways and she loved older homes with charm. I showed them the ones Randy had on his list in the vicinity of WashU and added a couple of new ones. Then, because Randy said he wanted her to see the home on acreage, off we went out west. We were about halfway there when I received a phone call from the listing agent on the house that was Zvjezdana's favorite. The listing agent was on speaker and she gave us the heads up that another agent would be submitting an offer. Without hesitating Randy looked at me and said, "we better turn around". That's when I knew how much he loved Zvjezdana. And that's the home they shared for many happy years.
There are so many wonderful things to say about Randy. He was a good listener (l can be a bit of a talker), he was kind, thoughtful and a loving family man who was so very proud of Tommie and Ana. He loved his work and when I asked him what he was researching he would give me an explanation in layman's terms, which I greatly appreciated. My conversations with Randy were always positive and insightful. When Donald and I shared dinners together with Randy and Zvjezdana, we always went home feeling fortunate and blessed to have them in our lives.
Joar Vittersø
In the fall of 1996, when I was a PhD student, I was lucky enough to be received by Randy Larsen as one of two international guest students at his laboratory at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The other student, with whom I shared office, was Zvjezdana Prizmic, who later came to marry Randy. I never got that close to Randy, but shared Zvjezdana’s enthusiasm for the time I had the fortune of spending with “the genius,” as she sometimes called him.
During the one semester stay, my understanding of topics like personality, emotions, wellbeing, and statistical methodology was substantially improved by the weekly meetings with Randy. The same thing often happened during our more spontaneous and casual conversations. Randy always welcomed my questions in his characteristic warm, generous, calm, and wise way. Being a member of his research group certainly advanced my academic skills tremendously.
Randy also touched me on a more personal note. Like myself, he was both a dog owner and lived at a small farm at the time. I was invited to his beautiful and remote place several times, to fish at his little, private lake, to cut firework, or to socialize. I sometimes felt lonely and homesick in Ann Arbor, away from my family and friends as I was. But I never felt lonely when I was together with Randy, and for that I will remember him as for long as I live.
Laura King
Randy Larsen left an indelible impression on my life.
I met Randy when I was a graduate student. Randy and my graduate advisor (Bob Emmons) were intellectual siblings working with the amazing Ed Diener. To say they experienced a sibling rivalry is probably an understatement. They were competitive (at least, for sure, Bob was).
I first got to know Randy outside that rivalry when we were both associate editors at JPSP:PPID, under Ed’s editorship. Randy was amazingly kind to me, welcoming me with open arms, when Ed took me under his (incredibly expansive) wing. But, I really came to appreciate Randy, as a friend and mentor, when we were both NIH grant panelists (for something like 8 years!). I would always try to sit with Randy at panel dinners because he always had the best ideas of what to eat and drink. He introduced me to grappa, for example. Even when I missed the chance to sit by Randy, he was incredibly kind, always looking out for me--“Hey Laura, have you tried this, yet? Hey Laura, you’ll love that!” He took such good care of me, treating me like a little sister, not just an intellectual little sister.
Because during that time, I moved from SMU to the University of Missouri and Randy left Michigan for Washington University, St. Louis, we often found ourselves together at National Airport, waiting for the same flight home from DC after the panels. Oh my goodness, I will never forget waiting with Randy as we stood in line for security at the airport mere weeks after 9/11. We looked at the two TSA agents, one in hijab the other in a turban. We smiled at each other and Randy said, “That’s America. That’s what we need to remember.” And I teared up and he hugged me.
Very often, our flights home required us to sit and wait, sometimes for hours. So, a few times a year, Randy and I sat together, talking for hours. We talked and talked and talked. Sure, we “talked shop” sometimes. But most of our conversations had very little to do with academic psychology. Mostly we talked about life. Thinking about those conversations now, it is difficult not to well up with tears over the loss of this amazing, brilliant, wise, funny, and kind man.
During those conversations with Randy, I learned two important things. One was that he loved his family, so much. We talked a lot about Tommy and Randy’s conversations with his little boy. We talked about how much he loved Z. He relished—absolutely delighted in--how different she was from “the typical American wife.” He loved her so much—it was clear that he found her just 100% adorable--even when they disagreed. Even when he recounted moments when her view of things was quite different from his own—for him, just to have this remarkable woman, this different, fascinating person, as his partner in life was a complete treasure. Randy was a happy man, dedicated to his work, dedicated to science, dedicated to his students, but, mostly, dedicated to people and especially his people.
The other thing I learned as that, in not visiting Croatia, I was seriously missing out. He was a human travel brochure for the place. He described the amazing places there—all these spots I’d never see. He loved his visits to Croatia. I can see him, smiling and laughing, about the people there, his efforts to talk with them, and his struggles with the language. He talked about the joy he took in how his idea of his family and his place in the world expanded to include a whole new culture and collection of beloved people.
Although Randy and Bob might have been rivals, Randy generously mentored me, not only in academics and personality psychology. He mentored me in life. His influence is with me always, making me a better scientist and mentor, but mostly making me a better person, wife, and mother. He inspires me to this day to take hold of what’s really important and hold it close, to relish the love of family, and to always remember those things I treasure, that make my life worth living--my people. I can hear his voice in my mind’s ear, delighting in his existence and it reminds that, no matter what else happens, sheer delight exists, waiting to be celebrated.
Jim Harrison
Randy was a friend that I wish I'd met a lot earlier. We spoke the same language. As it was, we got to know each other pretty well and since he's passed, I've found that we had even more mutual interests than I realized. A lot of people might say the same, though, because Randy had many, many interests.
Knife making was the initial interest that brought us together. I'd been at it for a while and Randy would research a particular facet of knife making that he was learning to master, ask for my advice, then show up a few weeks later with a half dozen knives he'd made. Then he'd ask for a critique to help jump to the next level. I was always so impressed with how quickly he'd overcome any lack of technical know-how or the developed skill to implement what he wanted to do. At the time, I had no idea how many other directions he was pursuing at the same time. I've concluded that Randy must have never slept.
So, I'll miss my friend. I did get to know his wife, son, daughter and dog, Max since he passed and realized that his family life was something he had mastered.
Mary Roediger
It is unusual for a male and female friend to have a friendship that exists as its own entity apart from other family and friends. And even more rare to have that friendship last for over 40 years. Randy was that person for me. Throughout the four decades that we were close friends, whether we lived in the same city or were at great geographical distances from each other, Randy was the gold standard of kindness, empathy, intellectual curiosity and wise counsel. Not only did I have the joy of knowing him, he also brought into my life, Zvjezdana, his wife and now my best friend, and his two children, Tomi and Ana, who are like a nephew and niece o me. For all this and so much more I will always miss Randy, but I am oh so grateful and thankful that we had so many wonderful years of friendship.
Randy was the best of us.
Jeff Zacks
Randy’s last email to me was just after I took on the Chair role. I wrote to ask his advice on a current issue. His response was wise, thoughtful, and warm, and he took the time to add a sweet and meaningful congratulations as I took on the role he had previously held in this department. I will very much miss being able to call on his level-headed, informed, and engaged thinking on behalf of our community.
Roddy Roediger
I first knew Randy at Purdue University. I was on the faculty when he joined for a couple of years before departing for Michigan. The different areas at Purdue were kind of separate fiefdoms, unlike at WU, so I did not get to know him well. We were on friendly terms and chatted once in a while, but that was it. At a department picnic, I did overhear him once in conversation with some other assistant professors. They were discussing one faculty member who was socially awkward until you got to know him, and they hadn’t. The faculty member never spoke to you in the hall, even if you said a big “hello” to him. The assistant professors were making highly negative attributions about that faculty member, but Randy said “I don’t think he is mean. I just think he doesn’t know that if someone says hello to you, you are supposed to say hello back.” Randy was charitable, but I think he was right. I heard all this while I was standing in a line to get a drink.
I was really glad to recruit Randy to Washington University. The Stuckenberg chair search was in its second year. I had sent a letter to Randy at Michigan inviting him to apply. I didn’t hear anything for a long time, but he finally sent me an e-mail expressing interest. I called him and he said he had not responded because he had been in Croatia. He didn’t mention why. I was used to having to talk people into applying for this position, but Randy told me words to the effect that “You are catching me at a good time. I am ending a relationship, my best friend left for the University of Texas, and I am ready to look elsewhere." I was elated. We interviewed him (and probably other people), but Randy rose to the top and we offered him the position. It was great for the department and for me personally.
Randy helped me (as chair) through several crises. One involved the case of Erik Thompson, who we hired about when we hired Randy. I won’t go into it here, but I lost a lot of sleep over it (literally) and Randy helped me think through it. I asked Randy to become Director of Graduate Studies after a few years and he agreed, so we worked together closely during those years.
Saul Rosezweig was an aged emeritus professor who had studied personality and who remained intellectually active, trying to write several books (one about his classmate at Harvard, B.F. Skinner). He expected me, as chair, to attend little seminars in his basement on Friday afternoons, once a month. He or I (or both) also talked Randy into going. The seminars were a surreal experience. We would go to Saul’s and he and his wife (Louise) would put out some peanuts and sherry, which looked as if they had been in house a long time. We would usually decline and have water. Someone would present, often Saul himself, and there would be discussion. A few faculty from St. Louis U. would attend, as did Eric Nuetzel from the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute. We would often get together afterward and talk about the latest experience.
Saul very much liked Randy. He was setting up a Rosenzweig Foundation, and he asked Randy to be its leader, with the other members to be me and Eric. Randy was patient with Saul.
Randy told great stories. One of my favorites was about the time Saul asked him to go with him to the driver’s license branch to renew his license. Saul had a 1967 Buick Skylark that was banged up, and Randy went off with him in it to the police station. (Saul declined Randy’s offer to drive.) The proceedings at the station did not go well. Randy watched as the police woman got into the car with Saul and told him to put on his seat belt. Saul got flustered and it became clear he didn’t know how to put it on. She finally got it on him and off they went. They eventually returned and the woman leapt out of the car, boiling mad. Saul sat in the car. Randy went around to help him out. When he opened the door, Saul looked up at him and said “That bitch made me put on my seat belt.” Saul had flunked the test, and Randy drove him home with Saul ranting all the way. I don’t know if Saul actually quit driving. Randy told this story much better and with more detail than I have here.
Randy also told great stories about going fishing in the wilds of Canada with several faculty members from Purdue. A small airplane would land on a grassy field near a lake and would leave them for two weeks, with no way for them to communicate with the outside world. The most memorable story was a time that one of the men fell into the ice cold lake, had a heart attack, and died immediately. It was early in the trip, so the rest of them had to try to put the dead man on ice for the rest of the time and keep him sheltered so that bears, which were present in the area, would not get him. I don’t think Randy was present on this trip, but he told the story with verve nonetheless.
Some of the best times we had together were when the Rosenzweig Foundation Board (Randy, Eric, and I) would go out to dinner together. We would quickly dispense with board business, if there was any, and then talk about Saul, about the basement meetings, about the Psychoanalytic Institute, and many other things. We always had a great time.
I could go on in this vein for a long time, but I need to turn to other things. I don’t think anything here is useable for the newsletter, but I enjoyed writing it and thinking of my friend Randy. I miss him a lot.
Tim Bono (I wrote this in 2016 to nominate Randy for a faculty award)
I am proud to nominate Randy Larsen for one of the Founders Day Distinguished Faculty Awards. I have been a member of the Washington University community for the last 15 years and have interacted with many faculty members in a multitude of contexts; I can think of no one more deserving of this award.
As his CV notes, Randy is an acclaimed scholar in the field. He holds an endowed chair at Washington University, and over the course of his 30-year career he has authored more than 100 publications in leading academic journals and books and he has received more than $5 Million in grants to support his work. He also has served in leadership roles of national organizations in Psychology, as editor for several of the top journals in the field, and has been named a Fellow of the field’s most prestigious organizations, including the Association for Psychological Science, the American Psychological Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also among the psychologists cited most often in academic journals, according to the Institute for Scientific Information.
His service to Washington University over his 18 years here also has been extraordinary. He has been recognized with awards from both undergraduate and graduate student organizations for the quality of his teaching and advising. In fact, his research and teaching are so engaging that he is frequently tapped by Alumni and Development to give talks to groups of alumni, parents, and friends of the University throughout the country. From 2004-2014 he served as chair of our department, during which time he grew the department both physically (adding a wing to our building) and in terms of adding quality faculty. It’s worth noting that Randy also has an impressive commitment to diversity. When he became chair he created a departmental Diversity Committee, gave them a budget, and charged them with developing ways to make our department more diverse. Consequently, many of the new faculty members starting during his term as chair were women and/or from underrepresented minority backgrounds, making Psychology one of the most diverse departments at the University. His term as chair was originally supposed to be for five years, but he was so well-loved by students, faculty, and the Dean that he was asked to extend for another five years.
I could go on and on about his many academic and administrative accomplishments. His lifetime of academic achievement is remarkable! To me, however, what makes him stand out is something that I directly have benefited from: the personal care and generous spirit he extends to everyone he knows, including staff, faculty, and most evidently, his students.
I would like to illustrate this last point with some of my own experiences when I was his PhD student in Psychology from 2006-2011. He was an extraordinary mentor throughout each of the five years I was pursuing my degree but really proved his commitment to advising during my fourth year when I was to complete my dissertation prospectus. This is a significant milestone because graduate students in Psychology are not allowed to apply for Dissertation Fellowships until they have submitted this manuscript. Toward the end of the previous semester, Randy and I set a timeline for when I would have drafts of my prospectus to him and we also scheduled spring meetings to make sure the prospectus would be ready by the Fellowship deadline. All was going according to plan until Randy experienced complications with his hip and learned that he would need a total hip replacement just a few weeks into the spring semester. The recovery from this procedure would render him immobile and prevent him from coming into work for nearly a month following the operation. I assumed this meant that we would have to put my timeline on hold since he would be out of the office for so long.
At our final meeting before his procedure, however, Randy informed me that he was committed to keeping the timeline as it was. Sure enough, just days after his surgery, even though he was not well enough to get out of bed on his own, he was on e-mail, checking over a draft of my prospectus and responding with comments. In the weeks that followed, he kept in touch and would e-mail me to ask how things were going and how else he could support me, even amid his physical therapy, nurse visits, and drowsy medications. We even kept our meeting times. Because he was not well enough to drive, he invited me over to his house so that we could meet in person to go over drafts of my prospectus as the deadline was approaching. Much to my delight, the entire process moved according to plan and I actually ended up completing the prospectus and sending it to my dissertation committee a full week ahead of schedule. This allowed me to apply for the Fellowship without any setback. I cannot describe in words how grateful I am that Randy would do all of this for me. I neither requested nor expected such remarkable generosity. Whereas some of my peers had difficulty setting up meetings, getting responses to e-mails, or receiving feedback on papers from mentors who were perfectly healthy, Randy did all of those things—keeping me right on schedule with the Dissertation Fellowship deadline—even in the face of a painful recovery from a complex medical procedure.
Even beyond this incident, though, one of the things that made him such an extraordinary advisor is that when he left his office at night, he never stopped being my advisor. I knew I could call on him for assistance—academic or personal—at any time. He inspired me to want to work that much harder and with that much dedication myself because of the example he set. When people would ask me how graduate school was going, I think they were often surprised to hear just how much I was enjoying it. I attribute this to Randy’s advisory style. I remember that he would often stop by my office just to ask how I was doing, wanting to know how aspects of my “non-Psychology life” were going. It was a great feeling to have an advisor who cared about me as a whole person, beyond just my coursework and research. On many occasions, Randy invited me and his other students (both graduate and undergraduate) into his own home for meals and good company. In many ways, Randy and his family became like a second family to me in graduate school. I am fortunate that this relationship has continued well beyond the completion of my degree requirements. Even to this day I get together with his family for meals throughout the year, and I continue to attend the piano recitals and basketball games of his children.
Two years ago when Randy completed his tenure as chair, the department threw him a party during which several faculty, administrators, and former students of his spoke. Each person had stories similar to those I have shared in this letter, highlighting a different aspect of Randy’s tireless work ethic and kind nature. In my experience, it is uncommon for someone who is an internationally acclaimed scholar to demonstrate such selflessness and genuine compassion for those around him on a daily basis. I am grateful to have worked with someone who was so caring, supportive, and encouraging during my graduate years, and even more so that the relationship we formed a decade ago continues today. Randy Larsen is the person who first inspired me to pursue a career in higher education myself, and he is someone I strive to emulate every day in both my personal and professional life.
Dave Balota
Knowing someone for over 20 years affords the opportunity to learn about the many different facets of the person. Randy was truly a resonance man. In addition to being a dedicated father and husband, and a strong leader in academia, some may not know that Randy was very skilled and knowledgeable about other domains including carpentry, metallurgy, fishing, hunting, gardening, motorcycles, and conservation. I’m sure there were others. He even knew about noodling, which we often joked about.
I was fortunate to have Randy as a friend especially during tough times. When one is going through a difficult period, such as the loss of child, it is very difficult to know what to say. This can be very awkward. Randy had the emotional maturity to gently initiate targeted conversations over time, and importantly just listened, which helps in the healing process.
I was fortunate to go with Randy on a few fishing/hunting trips. These were super fun, with lots of laughs. This is where I realized that Randy had a super strong personal disposition. On one fly-in fishing trip in Canada, after a few days without access to hot water or a shower, Randy decided he had enough of feeling grungy and so he decided to jump into a frigid lake to freshen up. This was surprising since early that day we had a conversation about the danger of jumping for people with heart problems. Randy did this with ease, and when I timidly followed him, let’s just say it was a life changing experience. Later that same trip, he was in agonizing pain with an impacted tooth. Instead of shortening the trip a day, Randy gutted it out, with the help of some bourbon wash. What a guy!
David M. Buss
I first met Randy in the late 1980’s at a conference at the University of Michigan I co-organized with Nancy Cantor, showcasing some 25 up and coming personality psychologists. Randy stood out among this group. When we received a slot to hire a personality psychologist, Randy came out at the top of the short list. We were fortunate to be able to hire him. After his arrival, we became great friends. We socialized together, drank beer together, had dinner parties, and attended conferences together.
One of the most memorable was in Amsterdam, I believe in the early 1990s. We had great fun and conversations strolling around the city by foot, and attending the conference sessions.
At the time, Randy was setting up his physiological lab at Michigan, which was a terrific scientific addition to the personality area and to the department. Our research collaboration started when I mentioned an evolutionary hypothesis that predicted sex differences in the emotion of jealousy, which almost no one had explored. Randy was what I would call a pure scientist. His stance was: “If the empirical predictions are supported, then the hypothesis has credibility.” He told me that we could actually test my hypothesis in his physiological lab. I loved the idea, since it provided a totally independent data source and method that could be added to the self-report measures we were using.
The results across studies strongly supported the hypothesis, with sex differences in jealousy discovered across methods. We published our paper in 1992 in Psychological Science.
Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., Westen, D., & Semmelroth, J. (1992). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology. Psychological Science, 3(4), 251-256.
The paper received a lot of attention. As of this writing, it has over 2,000 scholarly citations, and became Randy’s second most cited article. Science documentaries wanted to film the experiment, so Randy appeared in those, demonstrating the physiological measures he had used. He subsequently told me that it was one of the few hypotheses that actually was supported in his many lab-based studies.
Subsequently, I nominated Randy for the APA Early Scientific Contribution Award for Personality Psychology, which he won. Since our research collaboration had been so successful, and since we were now both APA Award winners in personality (I had won three years earlier), we decided to write a personality textbook together. Unlike many personality texts at the time, which were anchored mainly in the historical theories of personality such as Freud, Jung, and Adler, our plan was to write a text that was empirically-based, one reflecting the voluminous research being conducted in the field. Many publishers were interested, and we ended up going with McGraw-Hill when they made us an offer we could not refuses. It became the first four-color textbook in the field and was well-received and widely adopted by professors teaching personality psychology who wanted a text that reflected the science of personality rather than the historical theories. Since its initial publication, we have put it through many editions. We had just finished completing the page proofs for the 8th edition of the Personality Psychology when Randy unexpectedly passed away.
His death was a harsh blow to me. I lost a dear friend of decades. We had tentatively planned for me to visit him and his family soon in Croatia. He spoke glowingly of Croatia, talked about his boat, and of course delighted in his wonderful wife, Zvjezdana, and children. He did tell me a story about a group of neighbors watching him carrying home groceries, and good-humoredly making fun of him with comments like “Don’t you have a wife to get your groceries?”
I will always remember Randy as a man of sterling character—kind, generous, and fair-minded. One other memory stands out. While at Michigan, Randy had a pond stocked with fish. He invited me to bring my young son and daughter out to fish. We all loved it, and Randy cooked our catch over a campfire and we all feasted outside on fish and battered mushrooms.
I miss him greatly. But am glad to carry so many fond memories of Randy Larsen.