E. Paul Torrance: His Life, Accomplishments, and Legacy

Thomas P. Hébert
Bonnie L. Cramond
Garnet Millar
Alice F. Silvian

E. P. Torrance: His Life, Accomplishments, and Legacy is a tribute to the renowned creativity researcher, university teacher, and mentor to numerous individuals throughout the world. This monograph is presented in three sections which include a discussion of Torrance’s life, followed by an overview of his accomplishments, including his creativity research, the Future Problem Solving Program, and the Incubation Model of Teaching. The monograph concludes with a discussion of his legacy and the Torrance Center for Creative Studies.

Reference:

Hébert, T. P., Cramond, B., Millar, G., & Silvian, A. F. (2002). E. Paul Torrance: His life, accomplishments, and legacy (RM02152). Storrs: University of Connecticut, The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.

E. Paul Torrance: His Life, Accomplishments, and Legacy
Thomas P. Hébert
Bonnie L. Cramond
Garnet Millar
Alice F. Silvian
 

Conclusions

  1. Torrance’s life of eminence as a mentor, teacher, and scholar followed the recognition of his weaknesses and strengths. After his struggles with farm tasks as a young boy, he decided to capitalize on his academic strengths such as reading and writing.
  2. Torrance’s interest in creativity emerged from his struggles as a teacher with difficult students and his observation that many of the most difficult ones went on to become successful in politics, business, the military, education, the arts, science, and other fields.
  3. Although World War II interrupted Torrance’s teaching career, his work in the U.S. Army as a counselor for disabled veterans and research on survival laid the foundation for his lifelong pursuit in the development of creativity.
  4. Although Torrance’s primary interest was not the assessment of creative potential, he viewed the development of creativity tests as a means to discover and nurture qualities that allow individuals to express their creativity.
  5. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking have been used in over 2,000 studies and have been translated into more than 32 languages.
  6. Concerned about the overall decline of creativity in the American society, Torrance started to develop classroom activities that challenged students to think more creatively about the future. These activities grew into the Future Problem Solving Program, which today reaches approximately 250,000 students internationally.