Alexander B. Caldwell

Alexander B. Caldwell, PhD, ABPP, a luminary Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) scholar, was a humanist of the highest order. Carrying on the tradition of intellectual scientific inquiry of his teachers, Starke Hathaway and Paul Meehl, Alex’s fascination with people never wavered. Among his most endearing qualities was the way he listened. A beggar or movie star was, to Alex, a person of deep interest and profound value.

Not just Alex’s expertise, the MMPI was his passion, and he sported an uncanny ability to predict behavior by looking at what was “just a profile.” Alex once accurately predicted where a murderer had buried his victim’s body based on the perpetrator’s MMPI. Alex began creating a comprehensive computer-based expert system for integrating innovative MMPI measures with accepted measures, now Caldwell Reports, incorporated in 1969. Jane Rosen, PhD, Alex’s clinical associate for over 3 decades, related that Alex had once exclaimed, “The MMPI is my Soul.” “Well, Alex, you got that wrong!” Jane reflected after his death, “You were Its Soul. Without you it was, ‘Just a test.’ You imparted your great scientific sophistication, humanity and compassion, and you made a difference in the lives of thousands of people, especially mine. Rest well, dear friend.” Alex Caldwell was a soul not just for the MMPI but for the American Psychological Association, Society for Personality Assessment, clinical psychology, and personality assessment. Even Jim Butcher, who developed competitive computer assessment programs, greatly appreciated Alex’s contributions to assessment, and, despite sometimes differing views on how to approach MMPI interpretations, they were long-standing friends.

Alex was born on October 5, 1929, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and died on November 11, 2021, in Kona, Hawaii. His father moved the family to New York to receive his PhD at Columbia and then to Minneapolis when Alex was 5. Alex skipped the 11th grade but lamented knowing no one in his graduating class. Alex’s sister, 8 years his junior, is a music professor. At age 16, Alex entered the University of Minnesota, initially as a music major but fell in love with psychology. He received his BA and PhD working with Starke Hathaway and Paul Meehl. Both imparted in Alex a deep love for the MMPI and the rigors of scientific assessment. Immediately after receiving his doctorate in 1958, Alex was offered a position as a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, subsequently also joined the Department of Psychology, and was emeritus from both departments. Alex had three children by his first marriage but was predeceased by his first and second wives and younger son.

Although his contributions were many, Alex reflected shortly before his retirement to Ed Hyman that he believed his greatest contributions were the integration of an internal MMPI measure of socioeconomic status with other measures of validity and in considering the literature on the developmental patterns of individuals with various MMPI code types. Alex’s impact on the MMPI community was broad, particularly in attracting younger colleagues, such as David Nichols, Jane Rosen, Edward Hyman, Richard Lewak, and David Brokaw, and in helping each prosper within the assessment community. Alex’s gifts to the MMPI, psychological assessment as a whole, students, colleagues, faculty, and patients over decades were profound and enduring and reflected not merely sophistication in psychodiagnosis and psychological assessment but his great humanity.

Alex was an early diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology and an early mainstay and fellow of the Division of Clinical Psychology. Alex helped accelerate the MMPI into a major area of interest for the Society for Personality Assessment. Recognized by fellow psychologists for his contributions to MMPI interpretation scholarship, Professor Caldwell was the recipient of the California Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award in 1991. Alex received the Distinguished Contribution to the Profession of Clinical Psychology Award from the Los Angeles Society of Clinical Psychologists in 1999 and was recognized in 1999 by the Wisconsin Psychology Foundation with their first-ever Wisconsin Psychology Enrichment Award. In 2003, the Society for Personality Assessment honored Alex with the Bruno Klopfer Award for what they described as his “outstanding, long-term professional contribution to the field of personality assessment.” Alex entitled his acceptance article, “My Love Affair With an Instrument.” Among numerous contributions, Alex was also the author of Forensic Questions and Answers on the MMPI/ MMPI-2 and MMPI Supplemental Scale Manual.

Alex enjoyed a long life. His warmth and accessibility brought him many close and loving friends, and his relentless curiosity about the MMPI sustained him to the end. May your memory be a blessing, Alex.

Edward J. Hyman1, James N. Butcher2, David S. Nichols3,

Roger L. Greene4, and Jane Rosen5

1Center for Social Research, Berkeley,

California, United States

2University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

3Pacific University

4Palo Alto University

5Caldwell Reports, Los Angeles, California, United States