John Zubek

John Peter Zubek (March 20, 1925 – August 24, 1974) was a Czechoslovakian-born Canadian psychologist known for his research on psychophysiology and sensory deprivation. In his obituary for the journal Canadian Psychology, Donald O. Hebb described him as "[o]ne of Canada's most distinguished psychologists".

John Zubek
Born	John Peter Zubek (1925-03-20)March 20, 1925 Trnovec, Czechoslovakia
Died	August 24, 1974(1974-08-24) (aged 49) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Education	University of British Columbia University of Toronto Johns Hopkins University
Known for	Psychophysiology Sensory deprivation Somesthesis
Scientific career
Fields	Psychology
Institutions	McGill University University of Manitoba
Thesis	The cortical basis of roughness discrimination in the rat  (1950)
Academic advisors	Clifford Morgan

Biography

Zubek was born on March 20, 1925, in Trnovec, Czechoslovakia. When he was six, he and his family moved to Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1946, after which he earned his M.A. in social psychology from the University of Toronto. He then attended Johns Hopkins University in the United States, where he worked with Clifford Morgan to obtain his Ph.D. in physiological psychology in 1950. Also in 1950, he joined the faculty of McGill University in Canada as an assistant professor, continuing to hold this position until 1953, when he joined the University of Manitoba as Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology. He continued to serve as Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Manitoba until 1961, when he became a research professor there. In 1967, he was elected a fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association, and in 1973, he received the Clifford J. Robson award from the University of Manitoba. He died in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on August 24, 1974.

Further reading

• Rosner, Cecil (2016-01-21). "Isolation". Canada's History. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
• Raz, Mical (Autumn 2013). "Alone Again: John Zubek and the Troubled History of Sensory Deprivation Research". Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. 49 (4): 379–395. doi:10.1002/jhbs.21631. PMID 23982952.