Architect of "Multiple Intelligences Theory" to Speak at Scranton

Howard Gardner, Ph.D., whose multiple intelligences theory has impacted educators and education in the United States will discuss “Multiple Intelligences: The First Twenty Five Years…and Beyond” at the annual Harry Mullin, M.D., Lecture at The University of Scranton at 8 p.m. on Oct. 30, in the Houlihan-McLean Center.

Howard Gardner, Ph.D., a Scranton native who has been selected by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines as one of the 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world, will deliver the annual Harry Mullin, M.D., Lecture at The University of Scranton.

Dr. Gardner will discuss “Multiple Intelligences: The First Twenty Five Years…and Beyond” at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30, in the Houlihan-McLean Center. His lecture is free and open to the public.

The recipient of 22 honorary degrees from institutions across the globe, Dr. Gardner’s acclaimed multiple intelligences theory has impacted educators and education, particularly in the United States. Educational theorists have embraced his multiple intelligences theory, and a number of schools in North America have structured curricula according to the intelligences.

The John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education since 1998, Dr. Gardner has also been a professor of education and adjunct professor of psychology at Harvard. Since 1995, he has served as Chair of the Steering Committee of Project Zero, founded at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1967 by the philosopher Nelson Goodman to study and improve education in and through the arts.

He is the author of over 400 articles in scholarly journals in the areas of developmental psychology, neuropsychology, education, aesthetics, ethics and the social sciences. He has also written more than 300 topical articles, introductions and book reviews in wide-circulation publications.

Born in Scranton in 1943 just five years after his parents fled from Nurnberg, Germany, Dr. Gardner attended Wyoming Seminary before attending Harvard, where he earned an A.B. in social relations. He then studied at the London School of Economics before returning to Harvard to complete his Ph.D. in social psychology. He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Boston University Aphasia Research Center.

He has received scores of academic honors and fellowships, including the George W. Gay Lecture in Medical Ethics, the oldest endowed lectureship at Harvard and the oldest medical ethics lectureship in the United States (2004), and the Presidential Citation of the American Psychological Association (1998). He was named an Honorary Professor at East China Normal University, Shanghai, China (2004) and has also received grants from many governmental agencies and foundations.

The Mullin Lecture series, which has brought to campus some of the world’s most distinguished scholars and scientists, including more than a dozen Nobel laureates, honors the late Dr. Harry Mullin, who earned his bachelor’s degree from the University, then St. Thomas College, in 1931. He dedicated a lifetime of service to his profession and the Scranton community. The series is sponsored by his wife, Ethel Mullin, his son, Brian Mullin, M.D., ’66, and Robbin Mullin.

For additional information about the lecture, call 941-5873.

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory

According to Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory, developed in 1983, intelligence is more than a single entity that can be measured simply by IQ. Dr. Gardner originally identified seven intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal and intrapersonal. He contends that these intelligences rarely operate independently and usually complement each other as people develop skills or solve problems. His work has impacted educators and education, particularly in the United States.