At the very end of December, I learned that I had won the 2025 Division 3 Experimental Psychology Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association. It was a bit of a surprise, as it generally is not given to a comparative psychologist like myself… comparative psychologists have our own separate division. But it meant a lot to be acknowledged in this way, mainly because such an award acknowledges not just the principal investigator, but also everyone who has been involved in the research since its inception. So, this blog is to say thank you to all those involved!

First, a huge thank you to all the students and volunteers who have worked with me throughout the years. A big shout-out to those very first students at Purdue, who were willing to work with a nobody—I didn’t have any title at that point—on a project for which no one other than myself had any hopes of success. But we eventually did collect data and get a small National Science Foundation grant! None of it would have happened without your dedication in working endlessly as models in our Model/Rival procedure…A thank you to all the students at Northwestern, the University of Arizona, the MIT Media Lab, Brandeis University, Harvard, and those from Northeastern, Tufts, Boston University and Boston College…all your hard work throughout the years was crucial: Whether you cared for the parrots or became the first author on a paper, everything you did contributed to our success.

Second is an acknowledgement of my colleagues. Some of you have collaborated with me over the years, co-authoring papers, sharing ideas, and brainstorming experimental designs. Some of you defended my grants; others made space for me in your departments when the formal establishment would not, maintaining my place in academia, making sure I had access to students, library privileges, and the ability to attend seminars and colloquia.

Even those who criticized my work were important, because you forced me to think and write more clearly, to sharpen my ideas and hone the ability to act as my own critic. Others invited me to present our data at conferences and department seminars, to contribute to special journal issues and to write book chapters and encyclopedia entries, giving me the chance to explain what we were doing and why it was significant.

Fueling The Research

Next is another HUGE thank you to all our donors who had and still have faith in the research. You are the lifeblood that keeps us going, literally. Everything ALWAYS helps…even what some folks think is a “drop in the bucket.” Well, all those drops add up! I say it when I write every thank-you note, and I absolutely mean it; we could not keep going without the help of folks like yourselves. Even when we did have federal funding, it was never enough to cover all our expenses, and now you are our only means of support.

I absolutely cannot forget friends and family (and, yes, there is a lot of overlap with the previous groups, but not always)—those of you who have provided unquestionable emotional support through a career that often resembles “The Perils of Pauline”…sometimes providing a quiet refuge, sometimes including me in large celebrations; sometimes initiating a lunch or dinner or a long walk where you lent a sympathetic ear, sage advice, or helped mark a success. Sometimes it was being kind enough to understand why I missed birthdays, weddings, graduations, funerals, holidays, or other important milestones because I had an unforgiving deadline or I had to be halfway around the world to give a talk.

And, of course, last but certainly not least, the Grey parrots…my nonhuman colleagues for almost 50 years. Alex, the first, who convinced the world that being called a “bird brain” was a compliment, whose obituary was the final page of The Economist, in the New York Times, and other newspapers and magazines across the world. Kyaaro, Alo, Arthur, and Athena, whose contributions were less heralded but nonetheless extremely important. Griffin, who has (even if at first unwillingly) taken up the mantle left by Alex, and who continues to surprise the scientific community with abilities comparable to those of 6 to 7-year-old children. And Pepper and Franco, who have worked with their owner and my lab for over a decade to demonstrate that a parrot needs not live in the rarified atmosphere of a laboratory to exhibit the same level of intelligence and provide the same quality of data as our lab birds.

So, yes, I might be the one receiving this award, but it couldn’t have happened without all of you, human and nonhuman, who have accompanied me on this journey.

You can help Dr. Pepperberg continue the groundbreaking parrot research she began 40 years ago with Alex, the grey parrot who won admirers from around the world with his cognitive abilities. If you shop online through sites such as Amazon.com, you can designate the Alex Foundation to receive a percentage of your final sales, or register with the Alex Foundation at iGive.com and a percentage of sales from companies associated with iGive will go to the foundation. The Alex Foundation also has a “Donate” button linked to PayPal. Visit the Alex Foundation’s “Support Us” link for more information.