Jerome L. Singer

1924 - 2019

Jerome L. Singer, passed away on December 14th, 2019 at Yale New Haven Hospital. He was born in New York City on February 6th, 1924 to Abraham and Yetta Singer. Married to Dorothy G. Singer for 67 years, she pre-deceased him in 2016. Growing up in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, he received an undergraduate degree in psychology from the City College of New York, graduating Phi Beta Kappa at the age of 19 due to his voluntary enlistment in the United States Army. A staff sergeant, he served from 1943 through1946, assigned to the 441st Counter Intelligence Corps in the Asiatic Pacific theater, including New Guinea, the Philippines, and Occupied Japan. As a special agent in counterintelligence, his duties included "investigations of crimes, accidents, sabotage, sedition, espionage, and subversive activities." After an honorable discharge, he received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1951. A certified psychoanalyst through the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, he pursued a full-time practice in New York City, while also holding a series of part-time research appointments. In 1963, he was recruited as a full professor and director of the clinical psychology training program for the City University of New York. During his years there, he collaborated with his colleague, John Antrobus on groundbreaking experimental studies in daydreaming and the stream of consciousness. In 1966, he published the first full-length scientific monograph on daydreaming. In 1972, he left his position at City University to become the director of clinical psychology training at Yale University, where he served as a professor for over four decades. During that time, he worked in close partnership with his wife, Dorothy, a senior research scientist at Yale University. Together for more than 30 years, they co-directed the Yale University Family Television Research and Consultation Center, which provided consultation to many influential children's television programs, including Mister Rogers's Neighborhood and Barney. He was a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His hundreds of articles and chapters, and dozens of books were in the fields of imagination, fantasy, imagery, personality and psychotherapy. He was a beloved teacher and mentor to generations of students. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He loved opera, bird-watching, baseball, and travel. He is survived by his son, Jon, his son, Bruce (Mary), his son, Jefferson (Anne), four grandchildren, Cory (Sean), Grace, Olivia (Dave), and Chloe, and his sister, Arlyne Rochlin. Funeral Services will be private for the family. Memorial contributions, in lieu of flowers, to honor Jerome L. Singer can be made to Fellowship Place, 441 Elm Street, New Haven, CT 06511 or www.fellowshipplace.org.