Sheila Chase, a longtime Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center professor who founded the Psychology Department’s renowned Animal Behavior and Conservation Program, serving as its director for many years, died January 1. She was 90.
“Professor Chase helped propel Hunter to the forefront of animal-behavior research and contributed to the international recognition that our department has today,” said Psychology Department Chair Jason Young. “Her contributions helped make our Animal Behavior and Conservation program one of the most popular and impactful anywhere. We will miss her kindness and enthusiasm, which made our department and Hunter College a richer place.”
Developing from a certificate and concentration to a stand-alone master’s program through the 00s, the Animal Behavior and Conservation Program showed Chase’s farsightedness. It provides training for many fields that were only emerging at its inception, including animal behaviorist — trainer, conservation policy analyst — advocate, environmental consultant, park ranger — naturalist, research scientist, wildlife biologist — conservationist or rehabilitation specialist, and zoo — aquarium curator. It is one of the few such programs in the country and is regularly cited as one of the best.
“The program, which was a dream of hers for years before it was realized, has grown to be a nationally and internationally recognized center for research and coursework in the growing fields of animal behavior, animal welfare, and conservation. None of this would have been possible without Sheila’s steadfast support,” said Josh Plotnik, a psychology professor at Hunter and the Graduate Center who works on elephant cognition.
Professor Diana Reiss, an expert on dolphins who directed the program for some years after Chase, noted that Chase personally endowed the program, providing it with funds for operating costs and graduate student research and travel.
Chase, who joined Hunter in 1970 and served as an emerita professor well into her 80s, provided the impetus for several other important departmental developments. She helped establish its annual Psychology Convention, which started in 1972 and continues today. She pushed for the computerization of the undergraduate Experimental Psychology Lab. She also for many years led the Hunter chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society. Hunter College gave her its Presidential Award for Service and Citizenship in 2015.
Chase spent time well beyond her regular office hours meeting with students and is fondly remembered by the many she mentored, who wrote encomia at Dignitymemorial.com.
“She was one of the most inspiring professors. Her vast knowledge and curiosity led her to new discoveries,” wrote actor Isabella Rossellini MA ’19, who embarked on a career as an animal behaviorist and trainer in her 60s with Chase’s encouragement. “Sheila’s relentless drive to knowledge was my guide, my northern star. I looked at her and told myself ‘Why not?’ and just followed my curiosity. Rest in peace, dear professor, and thank you.”
Olga Piantieri, who studied with Chase as an undergraduate and graduate student, recalled that during major evening examinations Chase brought snacks for students, recognizing that many had work commitments and often arrived without having eaten.
Born to immigrant parents who prized education, Chase was raised in The Bronx and received a BS in psychology from City College and a PhD in 1967 from CUNY Graduate Center, making her among its first graduates.
In graduate school she met a young professor, Eric Heinemann, who became her collaborator and life partner. Together, they developed the Natural Intelligence Model, which estimates learning among animals with great accuracy by integrating insights on perception and long-term memory retrieval. In the late 1970s, they turned the model into a computer program, producing a psychologically informed machine learning decades before similar developments in other fields, according to the account at Dignitymemorial.
Heinemann, who taught for many years at Brooklyn College, predeceased her in 2006.
Chase is survived by a brother, David, and her nieces and nephew, Debbie, Lisa and Dan. The Psychology Department plans a memorial celebration for the next semester. Donations can be made to the Animal Behavior and Conservation Program through the Hunter College Foundation.
