Robert James Havighurst (Hurlock) (June 5, 1900 – January 31, 1991) was a chemist and physicist, educator, and expert on human development and aging. Havighurst worked and published well into his 80s. He died of Alzheimer's disease in January 1991 in Richmond, Indiana at the age of 90. Background and education Havighurst was born in June 1900 in De Pere, Wisconsin. Both his father, Freeman Alfred Havighurst, and mother, Winifred Weter Havighurst, were educators at Lawrence University. He attended public schools in Wisconsin and Illinois. He obtained a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1921, an M.A. from Ohio State University in 1922, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Ohio State in 1924. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand in 1953-1954 and at the University of Buenos Aires in 1961. He received an Honorary Degree Sc. from Adelphi University in 1962 and an Hon. L.L.D. from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1963. Career He published a number of papers in journal of physics and chemistry about the structure of the atom in 1924. He went to Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow, studying atomic structure and publishing papers in journals of physics and chemistry. He decided to change careers in 1928, so he went into the field of experimental education. He became an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In 1940, he became an education professor at the University of Chicago in the University's Committee on Human Development. He worked in the field of aging. Again, in the same year he was interested in international and comparative aspects of education. He wrote several books and published many papers. His best-known book called "Human Development and Education". He was named a member of the National Academy of Education in 1965. He retired in 1983. He was inducted in the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame. Intellectual contributions Havighurst's educational research did much to advance education in the United States. Educational theory before Havighurst was underdeveloped. Children learned by rote and little concern was given to how children developed. From 1948 to 1953 he developed his highly influential theory of human development and education. The crown jewel of his research was on developmental tasks. Havighurst tried to define the developmental stages on many levels. Havighurst identified six major stages in human life covering birth to old age: Infancy & early childhood (Birth till 6