โ Scribed by John C. Fentress
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
We were extremely fortunate at Dalhousie that Donald Olding Hebb chose to spend his "retirement" years in his native Nova Scotia. This gave our students and faculty the opportunity to have many discussions with a wise and compassionate man. He never "retirqd" from his constant inquiries into the mysteries of behavior, its central nervous system control, and its ontogeny. Thus, when Don died in August, 1985, the sense of loss was immediate. Although he lived into his W's, it still seemed unfair that we no longer would enjoy his company, whether to laugh at his jokes, seek his advice, or just chat.
I understand that in his younger days Hebb could be an intimidating presence. He defended his ideas with vigor, and showed little tolerance for those whom he felt were intellectually lazy. Indeed, when as chair of psychology I asked my colleagues how they would respond to having Don join us as an honorary professor, more than one of his former students paled! A gentleness came with age, however, and it was not long before we looked forward to those days when he would join us, office door open to all visitors. I am not certain how much of a developmental change this actually represents, for I understand that Don always took pains to reach out to all of those who, in his estimation (and he was good at estimating character!), were genuine in their pursuit of understanding.
Hebb's contributions were diverse and many. They resulted, as Hebb stated with characteristic low emphasis
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