(1) SIEGFRIED STREUFERT: BRIEF SUMMARY OF LIFE EXPERIENCE
Siegfried was born in 1934 in Berlin as the only child of August and Elli Streufert. August
Streufert had been elected to the German national parliament during the Weimar
Republic and had been the author of several national labor laws. With the Nazi
take-over of the German government in 1933, his Social Democratic Party was
outlawed and the Nazi government declared August Streufert to be an "Enemy of
the State." All German companies or organizations were forbidden to hire him. He
finally found a job with the Dutch "VanHouten" corporation and moved to Kiel, a
Baltic Sea harbor city in the northern German state of Holstein, just south of
Denmark.
Siegfried grew up in Raisdorf, a suburb of Kiel - amid hills, forests and lakes. Yet,
despite the natural beauty of the area, it was not to be a peaceful and pleasant
life for the child: Nazi persecution of the family, the politically motivated arrest and
death of August Streufert in a concentration camp, starvation in the mid 1940s,
and Second World War air-attacks on Kiel generated a host of serious problems.
The events of that time are described in Siegfried Streufert's book "Arch of Fire"
(the German edition is titled "Drachenwind").
Beginning with the fifth grade (1944), Siegfried attended a high school that was to
prepare students for future entrance to a university. In early 1951, he applied for
an American Field Service scholarship to spend a year in the United States. He
was one of four teens who were selected from more than a thousand applicants in
Kiel. Siegfried's host family resided in Amarillo, Texas. Experiences in Amarillo
were fascinating and life-changing. While Siegfried was an exchange student in
the United States, his mother Elli Streufert died of cancer. When Siegfried
returned to Kiel in 1952, he was told that his U.S. high school graduation was not
equivalent to the German High School "Abitur" graduation and he had to once
more attend High School.
With both parents deceased and all remaining family property in the then
communist eastern Germany, Siegfried did not have the needed funds to attend
college in Germany: In the early 1950s, it was not permissible to study at a
college and to simultaneously hold a job (a rule that has been changed since).
Life in Amarillo and events after the return to Germany are described in the
Siegfried's book "America! America?"
Siegfried knew that he would be able to both work and pursue a university
education in the US. Consequently, he applied for a U.S. immigration visa. In
1956, he returned to Amarillo, worked full time, yet completed two years of college
by Spring 1957. An unanticipated offer of a scholarship from SMU brought him to
Dallas, Texas, where he completed another two years of college by 1958. He
stayed at SMU to obtain a master's degree in social psychology in 1960.
Subsequently, he accepted an offer of a graduate research assistantship from
Princeton University where he was awarded a Ph.D. in experimental (social)
psychology in early 1962. He remained at Princeton as a lecturer and research
associate for two more years before moving to Rutgers University as an Assistant
Professor in 1964. His next position as Associate Professor and three years later
as Professor and Head of the Social Psychology and Personality Programs took
him to Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana.
A semester as Visiting Professor at the University of Mannheim, Germany, was
followed a year later by an offer of a chair professorship (Ordinarius H4/C4) from
the University of Bielefeld, Germany. Professor Streufert held that position from
1974 to 1978, but returned to the United States (Washington, D.C.) when the
National Institutes of Health invited him to a one-year appointment as 'Resident
Scholar.' In 1989 he accepted a professorship at Pennsylvania State University,
College of Medicine, where he spent the rest of his full time career until retiring in
2001 as Professor Emeritus at age 67. At that time, Upstate Medical University
(State University of New York) asked him to accept a professorship. He continues
to work part-time with Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York as well as
with various corporations and medical systems.
Professor Streufert is known for several books and many scientific articles that
focus on complexity theory, decision making, on stress effects upon cognitive
competency, as well as a number of other domains focusing on human thought,
health and behavior. He is known for the development of experimental and
quasi-experimental simulation technology, and as the founder and first editor of
the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. His work has influenced the fields of
psychology, mental and physical health, pharmacology and management. More
extensive information on Siegfried Streufert's scientific interests and publications
can be found in the curriculum vitae below.
Siegfried is married to Professor Dr. Glenda Nogami who has held several high
level positions with the US government, among them a professorship at the US
Army War College and directorships at INS and the Department of Homeland
Security. She retired from the position of Professor and Academic Dean of the
U.S.A. Management Staff College in 2007. Siegfried has three (adult) children:
Karsten Streufert, I.T. Manager for U.S. Courts; Kevin Streufert who resigned
from the position of Senior Vice President at Goldman-Sachs to start his own
company (TrnityOneGroup, Dever, CO); and Justin Streufert who has worked as
Internet Applications Developer for several organizations, including AARP.