NASH GETS MENTORED
It was 1978, and I was 27. I certainly knew that Jack Hilgard was generally considered to be the greatest living psychologist, but I had never met or even seen him.
That year I gave my first research presentation at the SCEH conference in Asheville. I was a grad student, and I was alone; I was staying in a pup tent at a camp site near Asheville (no money for the hotel).
I gave the talk in a large ballroom with maybe 150 people in the audience. We panel members were on an elevated stage. I was the last paper of the panel. I was terrified. I gave the paper; I managed to talk, even though I thought I might faint with anxiety. Someone in the audience gave me a fair amount of grief about the study. That just made matters worse.
When the paper session ended I felt defeated, dispirited, and generally unhappy. I was alone on the stage gathering my papers together, when a man approached me. He reached up to shake my hand, and said:
"I am Jack Hilgard. Your study is wonderful. Pay no attention to that malcontent in the audience. You did a great job."
He smiled, and walked away.
Instantly, all was right with the world.......a quiet act of emotional generosity on Jack's part. It was brief, but it was fully sufficient for me.
Pan ahead 15 years at an APA meeting. One of my grad students was presenting his research on memory and hypnosis. On the panel was David Spiegel, Fred Frankel, and other heavyweights. He was the only graduate student amongst the giants. He was one anxious boy. When the session ended there was a rush to the lectern as there often is. I stood at the back of the room, watching my grad student garner attention. It was nice to watch. While biding my time, I also noticed that on the other side of the room was Jack Hilgard, standing alone..... watching..... waiting.
And when the crowd cleared from the lecture, and my graduate student was alone gathering his papers together, I witnessed Jack walk up to my graduate student, extend his hand, introduce himself, and say a few encouraging words.
When I realized what he was doing, I was greatly moved, and still am whenever I think about it. Jack was generative, and he didn't make a show of it. I consider him to be the real deal.
