15/08/2026
I have fond memories of John from my time at WMU. He generously hosted meetings at his home where we discussed how behavior analysis could be applied to socially important issues. I feel fortunate to have been part of those conversations. He will be deeply missed.
Coming soon this week in Operants Magazine: In Memoriam: Dr. John W. Esch (1944–2026), by Anna Ingeborg Petursdottir.
Anna offers a deeply personal remembrance of a cherished friend, colleague, practitioner, and scholar whose life reflected a profound commitment to behavior analysis, intellectual curiosity, and lifelong learning.
John’s career spanned special education, university teaching, clinical practice, verbal behavior research, and decades of service to families and the behavior-analytic community. Alongside his wife, Dr. Barbara Esch, he helped create not only opportunities for research and scholarship, but also a remarkable sense of community for generations of students and colleagues.
Anna remembers John as gentle, thoughtful, endlessly curious, and genuinely interested in the people around him. Even while facing mesothelioma, he continued learning, traveling, writing, staying active, and arranging his life around the experiences and relationships that mattered to him.
This is a moving tribute to a life shaped by science, friendship, curiosity, and kindness.
Coming this week in Operants Magazine, the quarterly magazine of the B. F. Skinner Foundation.