Loftus, Elizabeth
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Elizabeth Loftus is Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Washin gton, Seattle. She received her PhD in Psychology from Stanford University. Since then, she has published 20 books and over 300 scientific articles. Her fourth book, Eyewitness Testimony, won a National Media Award (Distinguished Contribution) from the American Psychological Foundation. One of her most widely read books, The Myth of Repressed Memory (co-authored with Katherine Ketcham) has been translated into Dutch, French, German, Japanese and other foreign languages. Loftus has been an expert witness or consultant in hundreds of cases, including the McMartin Preschool Molestation case, the Hillside Strangler, the Abscam case, the trial of Oliver North, the trial of the officers accused in the Rodney King beating, the Menendez brothers, the Michael Jackson case, the Bosnian War trials in the Hague, the Oklahoma Bombing case, the NFL player (Ray Lewis) Murder trial, and the trial of the Marines accused of culpable negligence when they severed the cables of a ski-lift while flying in the Italian Alps. Loftus also has worked on numerous cases involving allegations of 'repressed memories', such as those involving George Franklin of San Mateo, California, Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago, and Gary Ramona of Napa, California. She has discussed these cases on '60 Minutes', 'Oprah', 'Donahue', '48 Hours', and other national (US) TV programs. Loftus's research of the last 20 years has focused on human memory, eyewitness testimony and also on courtroom procedure. Her work has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Science Foundation. In 1983, she was invited to present this work to the Royal Society of London. She has received four honorary doctorates for her research, the first in 1982 from Miami University (Ohio), the second in 1990 from Leiden University in the Netherlands, and the third in 1994 from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York – an honorary doctorate of laws. Her fourth honorary doctorate, from the University of Portsmouth in England, was awarded in l998. She served as the 1984 President of the Western Psychological Association, as the 1985 President of the American Psychology-Law Society (Div 41 of APA), and as the 1988 President of Division 3 (Experimental) of the APA. Finally, she is Past-President of the American Psychological Society. In addition to the Honorary degrees, Loftus has received numerous awards and honors for her research . In 1995 she received an award from the American Academy of Forensic Psychology – their Distinguished Contributions to Forensic Psychology Award. In l996 she received the American Association of Applied And Preventive Psychology (AAAPP) Award for Distinguished Contribution to Basic and Applied Scientific Psychology. In 1997 she received the American Psychological Society, James McKeen Cattell Fellow ('for a career of Significant intellectual contributions to the science of psychology in the area of applied psychological research'). In 2001 she was awarded the prestigious William James Fellow Award for her research from the American Psychological Society. Written by: Elizabeth Loftus