Lyle Eugene Bourne Jr.

It is with deep sadness that we announce that surrounded by his family, Lyle E. Bourne, Jr passed away peacefully at his home on March 2, 2023 at the age of 90. Lyle was born on April 12, 1932 to Lyle Bourne and Blanche White in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He was raised in Rumford, Rhode Island.

Lyle got his BA from Brown University in 1953, his MS in 1955 and his PhD in Psychology in 1956 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After receiving his PhD, Lyle joined the faculty at the University of Utah as an Assistant Professor where he served until 1963. He then moved to the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU) where he was promoted to Professor in 1965 and became Professor Emeritus in 2002.

Lyle was an extensive collaborator with colleagues at CU; his contributions to the field of Psychology were both local and national. Lyle was a notable and prolific writer authoring many books, including Human Conceptual Behavior (1966), Psychology: Its Principles and Meanings, co-authored with Bruce Ekstrand (1973-1985) and Train Your Mind for Peak Performance written with Alice Healy (2014).

He was the first Director of the Institute of Cognitive Science (ICS) at CU from 1980 to 1983 where he transformed the then existing Institute for the Study of Intellectual Behavior to the current ICS, one of the leading cognitive science institutes in the world. He was the Chairman of the Psychology Department from 1983 until 1991, leading the Department through many challenges and effectively representing it at a national level by serving on the Executive Board of the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology from 1986-1989.

On the national level, Lyle’s contributions were considerable, serving as Chair of the Governing Board of the Psychonomic Society (1981-1982), President of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association (1987-1988), President of both Division 3 (1991-1992) and Division 1 (2000-2001) of the American Psychological Association (APA) and President of the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, and Cognitive Sciences (1995-1997). In his last position, he helped the Federation present psychology to the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. Government.

Lyle’s service to the profession and to the APA also included numerous important editorial positions, most notably his 6-year term as Editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory (1975-1980). He published over 150 articles in preeminent journals and chapters in important books, exploring conceptual behavior, mental arithmetic, classification skill acquisition and training, retention and transfer.

Lyle passions included being a jazz drummer, watching (and complaining about) football and hockey on both the college and professional level, sailing trips to exotic lands and spending time with his late wife, Rita Yaroush. He is survived by his three children, Barbara Anderson (Phil), Betsy Bourne (Ron Polanski) and Andrew Bourne (Celia), his grandson, Alex Lyle Bourne, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Dr. Bourne was a well-respected and admired figure in the field of psychology; his legacy will continue to inspire generations of psychologists to come. He will be remembered for his generous, gracious, thoughtful and wise spirit. Lyle and Rita donated the annual Bourne/Yaroush Family Scholarship in Psychology to the Psychology and Neuroscience Department at CU and created the Bourne/Yaroush Family Fund at the Boulder Community Foundation. These generous gifts will remind us all of his exceptional traits for many years to come.

He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, colleagues and students. A celebration of life will be held in the spring.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy for the Bourne family may be shared at the following links:

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/boulder-co/lyle-bourne-11182445

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/boulder-co/rita-yaroush-11045540

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations made to the

Bourne/Yaroush Family Scholarship by using this link:

https://giving.cu.edu/fund/bourneyaroush-family-psychology-scholarship-fund