Blossom Wigdor

Blossom Wigdor CM (born June 13, 1924) is a Canadian clinical psychologist and gerontologist. She is a professor emerita at the University of Toronto. Wigdor was the director of the University of Toronto's gerontology program, the first of its kind in Canada. She founded the Canadian Association of Gerontology and was the first editor of the Canadian Journal of Aging. She was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1989.

Blossom Wigdor
Born
Blossom Temkin

(1924-06-13) June 13, 1924
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Academic background
EducationMcGill University
University of Toronto
Academic work
DisciplineClinical psychology
Gerontology
InstitutionsMcGill University
University of Toronto

Biography

Wigdor (née Temkin) was born in Montreal, Quebec, on June 13, 1924. Her parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. She earned an undergraduate degree from McGill University in 1941.[1]

Wigdor married engineer Leon Wigdor in 1945 and moved to Toronto. She completed a master's degree in psychology from the University of Toronto, under the supervision of Mary Louise Northway.[1]

Wigdor worked as a clinical psychologist in Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital in the 1940s, then at Montreal's Queen Mary Veterans' Hospital.[2]

Wigdor returned to Montreal to in 1947 and began her PhD at McGill in 1949. After earning her PhD in clinical psychology in 1952, she taught at the university for another 27 years.[1][3] She continued her clinical work during this time, and was named chief psychologist of Queen Mary Veterans' Hospital in 1961.[1]

At McGill, Wigdor developed an interest and specialization in gerontology. At the suggestion of collaborator Donald O. Hebb, she studied the cognitive development (including intelligence and memory) of older adults.[1]

Wigdor joined the University of Toronto in 1979 and became the founding director of its gerontology program,[4] the first at a Canadian university.[2]

In 1989, Wigdor's book, The Over-Forty Society: Issues for Canada's Aging Population (co-written with economist David Foot), was published. The book examined the impacts of an aging population on Canadian society.[2]

In 1990, Wigdor was named chair of Canada's National Advisory Council on Aging.[5] The same year, she oversaw the official opening of the Centre for Studies of Aging at the University of Toronto.[6]

Wigdor retired in the 1990s and became a professor emerita at the University of Toronto.[7]

Her husband, Leon, died in 1991. Wigdor remarried in 2002.[1]

Awards and honours

For her contributions as "a pioneer in the field of gerontology", Wigdor was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1989.[8][9] She was awarded honorary degrees from the University of Victoria in 1990[10] and from the University of Guelph in 1994.[11]

References
  1. Gui, Pelin (2011). Rutherford, A. (ed.). "Profile of Blossom Wigdor". Psychology's Feminist Voices. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  2. Holden, Alfred (1989-01-31). "Blossom Wigdor: Ahead of her time". Toronto Star. p. D1.
  3. "Blossom Wigdor is a friend to the aged". The Vancouver Sun. 1981-01-10. p. 139. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  4. "Gerentology 'will come of age'". Calgary Herald. Canadian Press. 1979-09-27. p. 40. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  5. Canadian Press (1990-04-23). "Council on aging chooses chairman". Times Colonist. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  6. Evasuk, Stasia (1990-01-15). "Research centre tackles problems of aging". Toronto Star. p. C3.
  7. Carey, Elaine (1997-06-11). "Dementia to triple over next 35 years". Toronto Star. p. A15.
  8. "Honours". Governor General of Canada. 2018-03-26. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  9. Creighton, Judy (1990-01-11). "Aging Canadians cause for concern". Star-Phoenix. p. 33. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  10. "Honorary degree recipients". University of Victoria. 2020-04-21. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  11. "Honorary degree | Recipients". University of Guelph. 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
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