Julian Cecil Stanley (July 9, 1918 – August 12, 2005) was an American psychologist. He was an advocate of accelerated education for academically gifted children. He founded the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY), as well as a related research project, the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), whose work has, since 1980, been supplemented by the Julian C. Stanley Study of Exceptional Talent (SET), which provides academic assistance to gifted children. Stanley was also widely known for his classic book, coauthored with Donald Campbell, on the design of educational and psychological research - Experimental and Quasi-experimental Designs for Research.
Early life and education Julian Cecil Stanley Jr. was born in Macon, Georgia, on July 9, 1918. After finishing high school he attended West Georgia Junior College (1936)— now the State University of West Georgia—and at age 19 years, after attending the Georgia Teacher's College (1937)—now the Georgia Southern University—he became a high school math and chemistry teacher. During the Second World War he served in the Army Air Corps' chemical warfare service (1942–1945). Upon his return, he entered Harvard University, where he completed his doctorate in education (Ed.D.) in 1950.
Academic career Stanley's first academic teaching position was as an associate professor in educational psychology at the George Peabody College for Teachers (1949) - now Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. In 1951 he became President of the Tennessee Psychological Association before moving onto the University of Wisconsin in 1953. It was here that he became famous for his work in experimental designs and psychometrics; his most cited work, Experimental and Quasi-experimental Designs for Research, was produced with co-author Donald T. Campbell (1963). In 1965, he moved to Stanford University, becoming a fellow of Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and then onto the final chapter of his career, at Johns Hopkins University. It was here that he began his work with intellectually gifted youth, creating in 1971 the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), which would eventually lead to a revolution in how gifted children were to be identified and treated within the education system. He retired as Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences (1992), although reportedly worked up until one week before his death in 2005 at age 87 years.
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