Mentor, colleague, friend
Wayne Velicer, an early principle of Pro-Change and one of the principal developers of the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change, passed away on October 15. Wayne was Co-Director of the Cancer Prevention Research Center (CPRC), Professor of Psychology at the University of Rhode Island and a world-renowned expert in health psychology and behavioral statistics. We attribute much of the success of the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) and TTM-based interventions to Wayne’s focus on high-quality measurement and research. Wayne was a formal and informal consultant for many Pro-Change grants and projects, but most importantly a friend to many of us at Pro-Change.
Wayne was a daily part of our lives when Pro-Change was housed in the CPRC. All of Pro-Change’s Ph.Ds trained under Wayne. Not only did he teach us about statistics, study design, and measure development, he also taught us about wine, music, the pleasures of travel, and how to live a good life.
We will miss Wayne and send our deepest sympathies to his wife Anna, sons Scott and Clayton, and the rest of his family, all of whom he cherished.