Presentation of the C. Anderson Aldrich Award to Arthur H. Parmelee, Jr., and Sally A. Provence

The Committee on Selection of the Aldrich Award this year has broken with tradition in honoring two leaders in child development. This is fitting because both Arthur Parmelee, Jr., and Sally Provence have distinguished themselves in the field, and both do honor to C. Anderson Aldrich in emulating his serious studies of infants and children and his imaginative projects in pediatric education. The nature of infant and early childhood development and behavior, the various processes (from the biological and physiological to the psychosocial) involved in development and personality formation, the complexities of interpersonal relationships, particularly within families, the opportunities, yes, the responsibilities of professional persons in ministering to children and parents have consumed the professional interest and personal passion of the colleagues we honor today, as they did of C. Anderson Aldrich. I could add others, such as their manifold and creative efforts in behalf of children when they served as advisors to public services and childcare agencies. Aldrich was a member of the Chicago School of Pediatrics whose constituents were distinguished in the 1920's, 1930's, and 1940's for their clinical competence and ingenuity, and their devotion to teaching colleagues in medicine about the burgeoning new specialty of pediatrics. The list included Isaac Abt, Joseph Brennemann, Clifford Grulee, Julius Hess, Henry Helmholz (for a while), and Arthur H. Parmelee, Sr. This group, which influenced me in my training years, was friendly to, but wary of the "eastern pediatric establishment" whom they considered, with some justification, elitist. I surmise that Arthur Parmelee, Jr., got his first inspiration and early direction towards developmental pediatrics from the Chicago group, especially his father.