The Life of Bandura

Bandura was born in Canada and attended the University of British Columbia with a major in psychology. He found the material fascinating. He pursued his studies in the field, earning his Ph.D. in 1952 from the University of Iowa. After a year at the Wichita, Kansas, Guidance Center, he joined the faculty of Stanford University and has compiled an extensive record of publications. In 1973, he was elected president of the American Psychological Association and in 1980 received its Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award.

Bandura’s sense of humor has often been directed at himself. When asked whether he walked to his office or drove his car, he said, “Both, sometimes in the same day.” Having driven to work, he would be so absorbed in his ideas that he would absentmindedly walk home, leaving the car in the university parking lot. He once led a group of psychologists to New Orleans to investigate the city’s facilities for an APA convention. Colleagues noted, “For a week, all we did was follow Al around and eat shrimp jambalaya” (Kiester & Cudhea, 1974). Perhaps the accompanying psychologists received both direct and vicarious reinforcement for modeling their behavior after Bandura’s.