James H. Humphrey, 1933
B.A., Denison University
M.A., Case Western Reserve University
Ed.D., Boston University
Citation awarded June, 1983
Professor emeritus of physical education at the University of Maryland, Dr. James Humphrey’s 28 years of teaching has been characterized by prodigious publication. A notable researcher, he has been involved in the writing of 28 textbooks which have been adopted in over 1,200 institutions of higher learning. He has also published 13 children’s books and created four educational record albums. His 200 articles and research papers have appeared in 27 different national and international journals.
The major thrust of Professor Humphrey’s research has been in the area of child learning through motor activity. His development of the AMAV technique of teaching reading through movement is widely used to assist children who have problems learning to read, and with perceptual difficulties, motor deficiencies, stress, and certain personality dysfunctions. In 1969, 12 of his studies were distributed by the Center for the Study of World Psychologies to interested individuals and groups in the Soviet Union and Japan. Humphrey’s program was featured in a Voice of America broadcast in 1975 and was distributed to their 35 language centers.
The Walter Clinton Jackson Library at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro recently inaugurated a special collection of the works of Dr. Humphrey. The purpose of the collection is to provide a center for those who wish to study his contributions to child learning through motor activity.
He has been a member of the Research Council of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation since 1954 and served as editor of the Research Quarterly for 11 years. He is the only physical educator who is listed in the First Directory of Psychological Research and Researchers. He was a charter member and chairman of the Research Council of the American Health Association. He served for three years as research editor of the Journal of School Health.
Among numerous awards and other honors accorded Dr. Humphrey is the R. Tate McKenzie Award, the highest citation by the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.
