Introduction to the Special Issue: A Tribute to Ralph M. Reitan.

This special issue of the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology was created to honor Ralph Reitan and his accomplishments. His death marks the end of an era in clinical neuropsychology and the loss of a major neuroscientist and psychologist. It has been said with good reason that Reitan is the founder of clinical neuropsychology, and his long career extended from its birth to the present period of substantial maturity. When he began that career, there was no field called clinical neuropsychology, and the testing of neurologically ill patients was done by psychologists using their standard, established instruments such as intelligence and projective tests. Reitan took the new tests he learned from Ward Halstead and generated an extensive research literature and clinical model that constituted the basis for what we now call clinical neuropsychology. With his passing, the field will no longer have the benefits of his pioneering research and teaching. The contributors to this Special Issue were asked to write a paper honoring Ralph with whatever content they chose. Thus, we have papers that are largely biographical, papers that mainly contain personal reflections and reminiscences, and scientific papers that comment on some aspect of Ralph’s theory and research. We also include a complete bibliography which illustrates the extent and breadth of his work. It was our feeling that, while Dr. Reitan had numerous friends and colleagues, the contributors to this issue are those with whom he had the greatest scientific collaborations, notably as his students or as co-authors of many publications. During their careers, some of them had differences of opinion with Ralph, resulting in a stimulating atmosphere of scientific controversy. Despite the disagreements, all of these people shared Ralph’s commitment to science and the use of scientific methods to advance the field. The controversies became interesting and instructive. Ralph began his seminal work at the Indiana University Medical Center. After 19 years, he moved to the University of Washington in order to have the opportunity to teach psychology graduate students. Then, in 1977, he moved to the warmer climate at the University of Arizona with the intention of writing more extensively without the obligations of the medical environment. The contributors to this Special Issue have all been influenced by Ralph and his work. Many of the contributors worked directly with him at one of these institutions (and one of them [Jan Janesheski] worked with him at all three), while others were strongly influenced by his publications and presentations. Homer Reed, James Reed, Carl Dodrill, and Jan Janesheski are contributors who worked with Ralph at the Indiana University Medical Center. Homer Reed, along with Hallgrim Klove (and Ralph, of course), were the original “blind interpreters” of the neuropsychological data obtained from the Neuropsychology Laboratory’s patients. Homer began his work there in the summer of 1959 and was an Associate Professor of Psychology (Neurology) from 1960 to 1966. He also was a co-presenter at many of Ralph’s workshops in the 1960s. James Reed worked in the Neuropsychology Laboratory from 1964 to 1968. He started out as a Special Post-doctoral Fellow in Psychology and Neurology from 1964 to 1965 and then was an Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 30 (2015) 721–723