Alan P. Towbin

Towbin, Alan P.
Alan P. Towbin, 89, of Bethany, CT, devoted husband of 52 years to Linda (Goldstein) Towbin, died at Yale-New Haven Hospital on May 29, 2018. Born in New York City, Alan was the son of the late George and Edith Towbin (later Freifeld). Beloved father of Andrew Towbin of Boca Raton, FL, Dina Towbin of Washington, DC, and Lima, Peru, Jessica Towbin of Seattle, WA, and Sephrah Towbin (Bill Riley) of Brooklyn, NY. Cherished grandfather of George, James, Joseph, Julie, Ethan, Max and Izabell, and great grandfather to Riley. Also survived by his former wife, Carol Towbin.
Alan attended the Bronx High School of Science. He was a top scorer in the Bronx in the New York State Regents Scholarship Exam which earned him automatic admission and full tuition to Cornell University, where he graduated in 1950. He attended Yale University Graduate School on a Sheffield Fellowship. He was a protégé of the late Dr. Seymour Sarason. He graduated Yale with a Ph.D. in Psychology in 1955. Dr. Towbin then joined the staff of the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital in West Haven, Connecticut, where he ran a ward and was in charge of the training program for residents in psychiatry from the Yale School of Medicine. Following his service at the VA, Dr. Towbin was a Clinical Psychologist at Southern Connecticut State College and a Psychologist at the Grove School in Madison, Connecticut. In the early 1970s, he established Educational Services Associates (ESA), a group of ground-breaking psychologists and educators who provided services and advocacy for parents of children with learning or school-related difficulties. One of the first such organizations established in Connecticut, ESA served clients throughout Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, and in Brazil and Mexico. He also had a long career in private practice. He wrote on "The confiding relationship: A new paradigm," for the American Psychological Association. Dr. Towbin was an expert in psychological assessment, having written the seminal work that influenced psychological practices in testing situations. He provided psychological screening of police recruits for many years for the New Haven, Orange, Woodbridge, Newtown, Milford and other local police departments.
Dr. Towbin served as a member of the board of trustees of the Gazelle Institute and as its treasurer. He was a member and on the board of directors of Congregation Or Shalom, member and past president of the Connecticut Audio Society, and member of the Bethany Democratic Town Committee and its Book Club. He was an avid gardener and loved reading, sailing, woodworking, electronics, vegetarian cooking, summers in Cape Cod and spending time with his family.
Funeral services are at the Or Shalom Cemetery, Farwell St., West Haven, on Friday morning, June 1st at 11 a.m. Memorial contributions may be sent in Dr. Towbin's memory to the Cong. Or Shalom Rabbi's Discretionary Fund, the Jewish National Fund, or to the Jewish Family Service of Greater New Haven. Funeral Arrangements are being made through the Robert E. Shure Funeral Home in New Haven. To sign an online registry book or to leave a message of condolence, please visit: www.shurefuneralhome.com