Allan Urho Paivio (March 29, 1925 – June 19, 2016) was a professor of psychology at the University of Western Ontario and former bodybuilder. He earned his Ph.D. from McGill University in 1959 and taught at the University of Western Ontario from 1963 until his retirement. Early life and family Paivio was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario as the son of Aku Päiviö and Ida Hänninen. His father was a Finnish Canadian journalist, poet and socialist. Paivio's brother Jules Päiviö was an architect and professor. He was the last surviving member of the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion fighting in the Spanish Civil War. Bodybuilding Paivio was a successful bodybuilder. In 1948, Allan Paivio won the title of "Mr. Canada" in a competition established by the International Federation of BodyBuilders. In a 1948 article in the YOUR PHYSIQUE magazine, Pavio is described as a well known athlete, bodybuilder, gymnast and physical culturist. A photograph of Paivio from 1948's Mr. Canada was reprinted in the book Universal Hunks, 2013. Paivio obtained a BSc in Physical Education from McGill University in 1949. He established a gym and health studios in Montreal. Academic career Paivio has published approximately two hundred articles and is most known for his dual-coding theory. Dual-coding theory posits that nonverbal and verbal information are stored separately in long term memory. Dual coding theory is complemented by the theory of Alan Baddeley, in which working memory is divided into a visuospatial sketchpad and a phonological loop. Paivio's work has implications in many areas including human factors, interface design, as well as the development of educational materials. Allan Paivio earned three degrees from McGill University between 1949 and 1959. Paivio obtained a Ph.D. in Psychology, and spent over forty years in research on imagery, memory, language, cognition, and other areas. He published approximately two hundred articles and book chapters, and five books. His 1990 book Mental Representations described how imagery became controversial in the Protestant Reformation. His 2000 book, Imagery and Text: A Dual Coding Theory of Reading and Writing, he wrote with Mark Sadoski. He published his most recent book in 2006, Mind and Its Evolution: A Dual Coding Theoretical Approach. Dual coding theory The dual coding theory (DCT), according to Paivio, suggests that visual and verbal information act as two distinctive systems. It has had its roots in the practical use of imagery as a memory aid 2500 years ago. For example,