Richard A. Schmidt, PhD (1941-2015) was a professor emeritus in the department of psychology at UCLA. At the time of his death, Schmidt ran his own business, Human Performance Research, conducting research and consulting in the area of human factors and human performance. Widely acknowledged as one of the leaders in research on motor behavior, he had more than 40 years of experience in the area of motor learning and performance.

The originator of both schema theory and impulse-variability theory (aka “Schmidt’s Law”), he founded the Journal of Motor Behavior in 1969 and was editor for 11 years. He authored the first edition of Motor Control and Learning in 1982 and the first edition of this book, Motor Learning and Performance, in 1991.

Schmidt was highly recognized for his contribution of a lifetime of research and writing. In recognition of his work, he received honorary doctorates from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium (in 1992) and the Université Joseph Fourier in France (in 1998). He was a longtime member of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA), where he served as president in 1982 and received the organization’s two highest honors: the Distinguished Scholar Award for lifetime contributions to research in motor control and learning (in 1992) and the President’s Award for significant contributions to the development and growth of NASPSPA (in 2013). He was also a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Psychonomic Society and received the C.H. McCloy Research Lectureship from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. His leisure-time passions included sailboat and Porsche racing.

Timothy D. Lee, PhD, is a professor emeritus in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He has published extensively in motor behavior and psychology journals since 1980, served as an editor for the Journal of Motor Behavior and Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, and has been an editorial board member for Psychological Review. Until his retirement in 2014, his research was supported primarily by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Tim has been a member, secretary-treasurer, and president of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS) and a member of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA), the Psychonomic Society, and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. In 1980 Tim received the inaugural Young Scientist Award from SCAPPS, and in 2011 he was named a fellow of the society—its highest honor. He was named an international fellow by the National Academy of Kinesiology in 1999 and awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award by NASPSPA in 2017.

Tim is an avid golfer who competes in local, national, and international tournaments. He teamed with a good friend to win the Ontario Senior Better Ball Championship in 2017.