Longtime psychology professor John Brelsford dies

John W. Brelsford Jr., professor emeritus of psychology and statistics, died April 8 in Houston.

John Brelsford

Brelsford taught at Stanford and Yale before joining the Rice Department of Psychology in 1970;  he retired from Rice in 2000. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University and his doctorate from the University of Texas.

In addition to teaching, Brelsford served as university registrar, prelaw adviser, chair of the Admissions Committee and chair of Committee on Examinations and Standing. Brelsford and his wife, Carolyn, served as masters of Brown College from 1988 to 1993. In 1995 he received the Class of 1995 Outstanding Professor Award.

Brelsford’s research areas were human learning and memory, human information processing and cognition, and mathematical models and their applications to behavior. He authored more than 30 scholarly articles and served as an editorial consultant for several journals, including the Journal of Mathematical Psychology and the journal Human Factors.

A memorial service was held at 2 p.m. April 13 at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church.

Donations in Brelsford’s memory can be made to one of these Rice scholarships:

The John W. Brelsford Award, Rice University, Psychology Department, MS-25, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251

The Brelsford Award, Rice University, Brown College, MS-709, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251