Edith M. Bairdain
Photo of Edith Bairdain from the 1964 volume 1 number 1 issue of the Journal of the Society for Information Display
Bairdain in 1964
Born(1922-06-06)June 6, 1922[1]
DiedJune 8, 2015(2015-06-08) (aged 93)[2]
Marietta, Georgia, U.S.
NationalityAmerican

Edith Munro Bairdain (June 6, 1922 – June 8, 2015) was the first woman to graduate from Emory University with a PhD in Psychology.[1] She was on the editorial advisory board for Information Display, an early human-interfaces journal.[3] Bairdain and her husband both worked on PSYOP for the Vietnam War. She was one of the founders of the Society for Information Display and promoted better ways to display useful and important information.

Biography

Bairdain was born on June 6, 1922,[4] and raised in Atlanta, Georgia.[5] She attended Columbia University where she earned her bachelor's degree in psychology and her masters in group development.[5] She earned her PhD in experimental psychology from Emory University in 1961.[5] She started working for ITT's Data and Information Systems Division in Paramus, New Jersey, that same year.[5] Her work at ITT involved working on human interactions with information displays in air traffic control.[5] In March 1966, she became a staff scientist at Communication Systems, Inc (CSI) in Paramus.[6]

Bairdain helped create the Society for Information Display.[6] She gave talks about how much information individuals were able to "absorb and use effectively" to make decisions.[7] She also proposed computer systems to make driving on freeways safer.[8]

Between 1969 and 1971 she and her husband Ernest F. Bairdain researched PSYOP in Vietnam, producing an interim report, a main report, and twenty reports on narrower topics. Their study has been called "the standard reference cited by all later authors studying the effectiveness of PSYOP in Vietnam".[9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Dr. Edith Munro Bairdain obituary". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  2. "Deaths". Emory Magazine. Autumn 2015. p. 52.
  3. "Editorial Advisory Board". Information Display. 1. 1964.
  4. American Psychological Association: Biographical Directory. 1970. p. 39.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Accident-Injured ITT Woman Scientist Envisions Computer System for Safety". The Herald-News. 1965-02-27. p. 10. Retrieved 2019-03-03 via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 "CSI Appoints Staff Scientist". The Herald-News. 1966-12-15. p. 96. Retrieved 2019-03-03 via Newspapers.com.
  7. "How Much Data Can a Decision Maker Take is ITT Talk for Display's Sake". The Herald-News. 1964-02-03. p. 14. Retrieved 2019-03-03 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Symposium Hears of Futuristic Freeway". Arizona Daily Star. 1965-02-27. p. 8. Retrieved 2019-03-03 via Newspapers.com.
  9. Barger, Michael G. (2014). Psychological Operations Supporting Counterinsurgency: 4th Psyop Group In Vietnam. Pickle Partners. ISBN 9781782896876. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
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