About Me

Contact Information

I’m a psychologist with a strong interest in basic mechanisms of behavior.  I recently retired from Albion College, where I taught courses about the brain, learning, and basic psychological principles.  I retain a lab at the College, where I examine both neural mechanisms of behavior and lawful changes in behavior in response to changes in the environment or experiences of the animal. My science also continues in my personal enterprise, Annelid Science (a room in my basement).

Here is my vita. Here’s an autobiography that I wrote around 2009. More recent update of the autobiography is here.

I grew up in Pennsylvania, in a beautiful home that has since been converted to a bed and breakfast.  I attended Haverford College for my undergraduate education, and UCLA for my Ph.D.  I taught at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (now Purdue – Fort Wayne) for 15 years before coming to Albion in 1999.  I was an early member of Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, giving the group its name and its logo, and I once served as its President.  I have been an officer of the Pavlovian Society  since 2002.

I trace my scientific roots to Pavlov — I am his scientific great-grandson.  I did my Ph.D. with Stefan Sołtysik, who trained under Jerzy Konorski, who was Pavlov’s first Polish student.  This might explain my deep interest in Pavlovian conditioning.   I have twice spent a semester at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw, Konorski’s institute.

I was married twice; the first ended in divorce, the second with the death of my wife due to cancer. I have five great kids, including an architect, an aerospace engineer, an actor, and two in college. Three grandkids bring much joy when I get to see them.

When I am not being academic, I enjoy interacting with my family, and occasionally trying to play the diatonic accordion (I have a Cajun 1-row and a 3-row on which I want to learn Tejano style).  Here are some examples of my Cajun accordion (another example,  a holiday offering,  my 1st public appearance, short Bach piece).  When I had time and money I enjoyed working on my 1939 Chevy (sadly, I sold it in 2019).

I have always been an avid photographer.  My best artistic photos, as well as photos of some local events, are now for sale at jeffwilson.zenfolio.com.  Before COVID I shot primarily rodeo and live music.  Recently I;ve merged my photography with a life-long interest in astronomy (I almost double-majored in physics and astronomy in college) — I’m doing astrophotography.

Excluding the well-known psychologists and neuroscientists with whom I have interacted, I have had “brushes with greatness” that involve Katharine Hepburn, Francis Crick, Buckminster Fuller, and Stephen Jay Gould.

Contact information

wjwilson@albion.edu