Faculty Papers: Julien M. Christensen Papers

Julien Martin Christensen was born September 3, 1918, in Capron, Illinois. He attended primary and secondary school in the Capron public school system. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois in 1940 and a Master of Arts degree from the Ohio State University in 1952. With the aid of a 1958 National Science Foundation grant, Christensen earned a Ph.D. in psychology from The Ohio State University in 1959. Robert J. Wherry advised him on his doctoral dissertation, "The Importance of Selected Design Variables in Qualitative Instrument Reading."

Christensen was a World War II veteran, having served for four years in the U.S. Air Force. He was a recipient of the President's Distinguished Service Award in 1992. He worked for the Air Force for many years, performing psychological research and applications work, and was chief of the Engineering Psychology Branch of the Aerospace Medical Laboratory, Wright Air Development Center.

Christensen was a member of the Pole Vaulters Club, having been the first civilian to fly over the North Pole with the Air Force. He also served as an adviser for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations at Three Mile Island. He held a private pilot's license and a scuba diving license.

Christensen was a professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Dayton from 1956-1966. He also taught at Wittenburg University and Wayne State University.

He served as president of the Society of Engineering Psychologists, Division of Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology, from 1962-1963. He held a certified license from the State of Ohio, Board of Psychology. He wrote more than 133 books and journal articles, and the Human Factors Association of Canada gives an annual award in his name.

Julien Christensen died July 10, 1998, at Calvary Hospital in New York, NY, after a four-year struggle with cancer; he was 79. He was married to Imogene (Willis) Christensen for 44 years, and they had three 2 daughters. Christensen was a resident of Bellbrook, Ohio, at the time of his death and is buried in Miami Memory Gardens.

University of Dayton students and employees can access the following databases which contain articles written by J.M. Christensen.

If you are off-campus, you will need to authenticate here in order to use.

Christensen published hundreds of articles and books, and wrote additional pieces that were never published. One of these unpublished materials is a manuscript on drinking and driving he wrote in 1973.

He writes, “Incidentally, some states will not call you legally drunk unless your BAL is 0.15 percent. That for man, woman, and youth is about eight ounces of 80-proof booze in one hour. You know that you don’t need that much unless you are a Watergate defendant or unless your mother-in-law is visiting you, so hold it down.”

The complete manuscript is in his papers.

Highlights from the collection:

• A large collection of journals, newspapers, and other publications relating to psychology and human factors engineering
• Personal publications including articles, notes, reports, chapters of books, and unpublished manuscripts
• Miscellaneous materials such as navigation plotters, slide rulers, Vu-graphs, and multi-media materials