THE MARK R. ROSENZWEIG GRADUATE STUDENT SUPPORT FUND

Anne Janine Rosenzweig, Suzanne Jacqueline Washburn, and Philip Mark Rosenzweig established The Mark R. Rosenzweig Graduate Student Support Fund in September 2009 in memory of their father, Mark R. Rosenzweig.

Mark R. Rosenzweig

A prolific researcher, writer and French-speaking internationalist, Rosenzweig collaborated with some of the greatest minds in neuropsychology at Harvard University, UC Berkeley and the Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg, France.

At UC Berkeley, Rosenzweig collaborated with biochemist Ed Bennett, psychologist David Krech and neuroanatomist Marian Diamond on studies that provided early evidence of brain plasticity—the now well-established notion that neural pathways change throughout our lives as we grow and learn. In addition, his earlier research into auditory perception also laid the groundwork for modern, noninvasive hearing tests.

“Rosenzweig’s investigations were rigorous, groundbreaking and continue to be cited in all current accounts of brain development and plasticity, though they were conducted half a century ago,” said Stephen Hinshaw, chair of UC Berkeley’s Department of Psychology. “If anyone deserves the term ‘pioneer,’ he does.”

Through extensive studies of laboratory rats at UC Berkeley in the 1950s and ‘60s, Rosenzweig and his colleagues were able to show that “environmental therapy” can stimulate brain growth at a cellular level not only in children, but also in adults. For example, he found that rats living in an “enriched environment” with stimulating interactive tasks performed better at learning activities than those in passive, impoverished conditions.

At UC Berkeley, Rosenzweig continued his investigation into “binaural perception,” but soon he and his colleagues became drawn to the study of learning and memory and began their investigations of the brain: “Our first reports that differential experience induces measurable changes in the brain were greeted with skepticism and incredulity,” he wrote. But in later years, the researchers’ findings gained acceptance.

“We did not invent the concept of the ‘enriched environment,’ but I believe that our publications introduced the concept and the term to the neuroscience community,” he wrote. In 1982 Rosenzweig received the American Psychological Association’s Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions for his research demonstrating that weight, chemistry and ultrastructure of brain components are affected by environmental stimulation.

A strong believer in public education and equal opportunity, in 1964 Rosenzweig served with physics Professor Owen Chamberlain as co-chairs of the Special Opportunity Scholarship

Committee, which was designed to prepare underprivileged high school students for university education. In time, this initiative became a federal program, Upward Bound.

Another of Rosenzweig’s passions was the international teaching of psychology, and he became heavily involved in the International Union of Psychological Science, for which he served as president from 1988-92.

Among other accolades, Rosenzweig won the Berkeley Citation in 1992 and the American Psychological Association’s Contribution to International Psychology Award in 1998. He also received honorary doctorate degrees from the Université René Descartes in Paris, the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg and the Université de Montréal. He served as editor of the journal Annual Review of Psychology from 1968-94. He was also elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

The Fund

In recognition of their father’s achievements and his desire to assist students, Anne, Suzanne and Philip established The Mark R. Rosenzweig Graduate Student Support Fund to continue his legacy. Recipients of the fund shall be high-achieving graduate students enrolled in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, with a preference for students working in the field of biological psychology.

Contribute to Rosenzweig’s Legacy and Your Gift Will Be Matched

If you would like to further Professor Rosenzweig’s legacy and assist generations of psychology scholars, please consider contributing to the fund. The goal is to establish an endowed fellowship at $500,000. To achieve this, Anne, Suzanne and Philip have agreed to match your gifts. As a result of a UC Berkeley matching program offered by the Chancellor for endowed student support, their gifts to this new fund will also be matched. Thus, every dollar you contribute will be matched by two dollars.

In addition, the contributions to this fund from any UC Berkeley faculty or staff member or current student will be separately matched by the Chancellor, so that every dollar contributed by a Berkeley faculty or staff member or current student will ultimately be matched by three dollars.

Please make checks payable to “UC Berkeley Foundation” and send them to:

Department of Psychology
3210 Tolman Hall #1650
University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-1650

Or to donate online see https://givetocal.berkeley.edu/egiving/index.vfm?Org=Psychology&Fund=FN7245000
In the "Special Gifts Instructions" section, type "Gift to the Mark R. Rosenzweig Graduate StudentSupport Fund" and the gift will be properly credited.