Rita Loyd Atkinson, noted psychologist and longtime member of the UC San Diego campus community, passed away on Friday, December 25. She was 91.
Born in 1929 in Richmond, Virginia, and raised in Leonia, New Jersey, Atkinson earned her PhD degree in clinical psychology at Indiana University. She met her husband, fellow graduate student Richard Atkinson, in the psychology laboratory, where they once worked together on an experiment running rats through a maze. It was the beginning of a remarkable 68-year partnership that spanned their personal and professional lives.
They moved to California in 1954 and several years later Richard joined the faculty at Stanford University. In 1967, Rita became a co-author, with her husband and Stanford professor Ernest Hilgard, of a college-level introductory psychology textbook. The book went on to become the leading psychology text of its era. It was translated into multiple languages and gave millions of college students throughout the world their first exposure to psychology. By 1980, Rita was the first and principal author, serving in that role through the thirteenth edition in 2000. When she stepped down, the title was changed to Atkinson and Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology.
A new chapter opened in their lives with Richard’s appointment as chancellor of UC San Diego in 1980. Rita immediately established herself as an important asset to the university. She was an active and familiar presence on the campus and in the community, serving on the Oceanid Board, Town and Gown, and the Humanities Advisory Board. Especially close to her heart were efforts that benefited women and children: Planned Parenthood, a major focus for her advocacy and support over many years; Voices for Children, a program dedicated to the welfare of foster children; and the La Jolla YMCA’s after-school program to help out working mothers. She was a persistent advocate on behalf of students, and probably most proud of the role she played in making possible the Rita Atkinson Residences for graduate students. Its elegant design and sustainability earned the campus its first LEED Gold certified building award. In honor of her and her husband’s exceptional service to the university’s mission, the Atkinsons were awarded the Chancellor’s Medal in 2011, one of UC San Diego’s highest honors.
Rita’s love of music and her longstanding involvement with the La Jolla Music Society were well known; she looked forward every year to its annual SummerFest Gala. She was a voracious reader whose interests ranged far and wide and embraced everything from history to mystery novels. As her vision began to dim, she became a frequent and enthusiastic visitor to the Braille Institute and its helpful staff. She repaid their thoughtfulness with generous support.
Rita Atkinson will be remembered not only for her professional accomplishments but for what she was: a woman of superb intellectual gifts and deep commitment to UC San Diego and the University of California family for nearly half a century. Rita’s dedication and friendship will be dearly missed. UC President Michael V. Drake, a longtime friend of the Atkinsons, added this: “We remember well her kindness and her wisdom, critical traits more powerful in combination. She leaves an incredible legacy.”
Rita Atkinson is survived by her husband, her daughter, Lynn Atkinson, her son-in-law David Drucker, grandchildren Natalie and Adam, and great-grandchildren Annabelle and Connor.
