Tribute to John Elliott, 1945 - 2019

Dr Elliott was the reason why I had the courage to pursue further study in psychology. I was one of the early batch of psychology students in the 1980s when the dept was still the Department of Social Work and Psychology. Back then there were limited places for many of us who would otherwise be accepted into the honours program. I was one of them who did not gain a place and was prepared to give up my dream of becoming a psychologist. Dr Elliot did not give up on us; in his office he told us that we were good enough; that we should not question our ability. He was determined to convince us not to give up. His encouragement gave us renewed hope and many of us went overseas to continue our studies in psychology. If not for Dr Elliot, I would not be who I am now with a doctorate in Psychology and an academic. I am sadden by his passing, and I am glad I had a chance to Thank him in person (a few days before he retired) when I was visiting the dept. Thank you Dr Elliot, Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

John Elliott changed my life. I have never met an individual and teacher like him. I was a student in his evolutionary psychology undergraduate seminar, more than 10 years ago now. Now, I am an active evolutionary psychologist, and a assistant professor halfway across the world. John is the inspiration behind who I am now. His class was the initial spark that ignited my passion for evolutionary psychology. But even more than that, what I saw in him cemented my motivation to become a scientist. To love what one does, and to do so with such enthusiasm, depth, and commitment, made me realize that life can be so, so much more. And that is the most precious gift that John gave me, whether he realized it or not. I reconnected with John about two years ago, and also returned to NUS last year to share my work. Talking to John and seeing his enthusiasm about the books he was writing reminded me of the reason why I chose the academic way of life. I was very much looking forward to further exchanges and reading his book drafts. I will never forget John. I hope that I can be an inspiration to others, as he was to me. It will be an incredibly tall order, but I owe it to John to spend the rest of my life trying.

I became acquainted with Prof Elliott first as a student in his class. This was Developmental Psychology in 2014 and then Evolutionary Psychology in 2016. In 2017, I became a graduate student in the department which he played a key role in encouraging and helping me to, and I had the amazing opportunity to be his TA. It was his last time teaching Intro to Psychology then, and it was a unforgettable experience. I will not forget the first tutorial lesson in Developmental Psychology. I remembered overhearing two classmates, "I wonder how Prof Elliott is like... I heard he is ancient". John next arrived, carrying with him a file that compiled 30 years of tutorial materials. Every lesson he would treat us to a mix of content and knowledge that he have prepared across the years. I have never experienced this in any other tutorial class and this was unforgettable. In Evolutionary Psychology, I fondly remembered the class quiz. As per John's style, he discussed the answers to the quiz right after to make sure we learn when the experience was fresh. What happened next caught us all by surprise. One classmate decided to take the brave and challenge John about an answer and soon, the class broke into rousing discussion. For all the energy, John decided to accept whatever answer that we could justify intellectually and almost all questions accepted more than one answer. I think we wondered how he eventually got down to grading the quiz but nobody challenged him thereafter, we all scored above our expectations. I also remembered the glee on John's face for he had succeeded to make us learn and share our knowledge. John always has a knack for making students contribute. Somewhere in my final year as an undergraduate I also helped John with a book project, compiling the history of our department. I remembered how we joked that there seemed little sourceable information and he suggested that perhaps we interview him. John is the longest serving member in our department and we will miss him. And finally, when I was his TA, this was the best experience as John shared in detail his teaching philosophies, strategies and vision for the future. I will not forget how he shared on the few groundbreaking technologies that impacted education practices -- the OHP and transparencies that meant teaching materials could now be created beforehand versus the days of chalkboard, and then powerpoint that brought IT into the classroom. And now there's video webcasts, e-learning and so much more. And amazingly, John has utilised all these in his classes. Thank you John for all the special moments you contributed in your thirty years in NUS. Sincerely, Jing Wen

Recently, we lost two well-loved individuals widely considered as pioneers and founders of their disciplines in Singapore - social work education pioneer Ann Wee and psychologist John Elliott. For several decades, they not only contributed significantly to academia and public service, but also touched the lives of many people, positively influencing them in personal ways. They spent so much of their lives putting nation and others before self. I knew both of them for more than 30 years, first as an undergraduate and then as their colleague in the same department at the National University of Singapore, and subsequently as close friends. All my interactions with them were enjoyable and learning experiences. From their lives, we learn that it is possible to be courageous and constructive, principled and pragmatic, and above all, humble, honest and humane. Intellectually, we know that death is inevitable. Emotionally, the loss is very difficult. I know what Ann and John would want of those who benefited so much from them is to turn grief and gratitude to paying it forward, and make a positive difference to others. David Chan 18 Dec 2019 https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/remember-ann-wee-and-john-elliott-and-pay-it-forward?xtor=CS3-18&utm_source=STiPhone&utm_medium=share&utm_term=2019-12-18%207%3A12%3A56

As — I know from his emails to me—Derek Blackman, the first external examiner for Psychology at NUS, John’s death is a grave shock. So many realise the size of John’s contribution to psychology in S’pore. I can add my debt to him from the time he decided to become my first potentially long term colleague in the then Social Work Department. He was a stalwart! I didn’t much know John when he and I were at Sheffield, a superb psychology department. By 1989 when I left NUS I understood how solidly reliable and unwaveringly loyal John was. He had a mind I found congenial to spar with or learn from— so did most students he taught. He told me about orchids; we compared our National Service experiences, we each reckoned Richard Gregory a psychologist head and shoulders above virtually all other British ones and more fun, too. John’s gone. The good he did remains.