Sandra Trehub (1938-2023)
We are greatly saddened by the passing of Sandra
Trehub. Born in 1938, she died peacefully at her home on 20 January 2023. Sandra
was a trailblazer. Her research focusing on auditory pattern perception in
infancy and early childhood single-handedly started developmental research in
music perception and cognition. Her experimental studies documented that
infants have basic skills that form the building blocks for remembering and
responding emotionally to music, including the capability to perceive and
categorize auditory sequences on the basis of pitch, changes in pitch, and
rhythm. Her research also established that singing to infants is a universal
behavior, which ultimately facilitates language acquisition and bonding with
care-givers. A fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the
British Psychological Society, Sandra was awarded many honors, including a
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Music Perception and Cognition
and the Kurt Koffka Medal from the University of Giessen in Germany.
After graduating from McGill University in Montreal in
the 1970s, Sandra had a long career as Professor of experimental psychology at
the University of Toronto (Mississauga campus). She authored hundreds of
scientific journal articles and chapters, delivered lectures to audiences in
many countries, and mentored many graduate students and post-doctoral fellows
who went on to have successful academic careers of their own, including Tonya
Bergeson (Butler/Indiana), Laura Cirelli (Toronto), Anabel Cohen (PEI),
Marianne Fallon (Central Connecticut State), Erin Hannon (Nevada Las Vegas), Stuart
Kamenetsky (Toronto), Bruce Morton (Western), Barbara Morrongiello (Guelph), Glenn
Schellenberg (Toronto, ISCTE-IUL), Laurel Trainor (McMaster), and Tara
Vongpaisal (MacEwan); as well as others who opted for careers outside of the
academy, including Leigh Thorpe, Tali Shenfield, Michael Weiss, Anna Volkova,
and Mathieu Saindon.
Sandra had boundless energy and limitless curiosity.
Although she had the bad luck of turning 65 in the last year that mandatory
retirement was legal in Ontario—and thus was required to retire—Sandra
continued to be productive, writing and participating in conferences until the
end. Indeed, she had an invited talk scheduled at Princeton University for 8
February 2023. She was fearless and tenacious and never gave up on an argument,
while at the same time being nurturing and helpful to those she mentored, a
group that extended far beyond her own students. She was also a role model for
many women in science and, in her later years, became very involved in supporting
community music for children, particularly at St. James Town Community Arts in
Toronto.
Sandra was adventurous and traveled to many remote
areas of the globe with her architect/husband Ron Matthews (died 2007). Her
interest in various human musical cultures led her to observe cross-cultural
differences in child rearing and musical behavior, which influenced her
scientific thinking. In short, Sandra’s contribution to the fields of development,
education, and music perception and cognition have been inestimable. We stand
on her shoulders.
The obituary from her large and beloved family can be
found at https://hebrewbasicburial.ca/ServiceDetails.aspx?snum=139049&fg=0
Following are a few brief remembrances from some of
her mentees. Please feel free to add to these.
Sandra was a force of nature who forcefully and
endlessly argued her opinions. Unlike many individuals who think they know
everything, Sandra actually knew everything. She taught me how to write (“Imagine
that words are very, very expensive and you are very, very broke”) and to think
critically, and I owe my career to her. When I was writing my dissertation and
encountered an unexpected (but in the end, irrelevant) glitch in the data,
Sandra told me to “never be afraid of the truth,” a lesson that all scientists
need to learn. We ultimately co-authored 35 journal articles and chapters. Sandra
loved visual art, literature, cinema, architecture, and music, and she
appreciated and encouraged my own non-academic endeavors. She was an
extraordinary mentor, unflaggingly generous with her time, criticism, and enthusiasm.
Glenn Schellenberg
Sandra shaped many aspects of my career. She mentored
me, despite my background in only physics and music performance. She modelled everything
from how to think about questions to how to run a lab and apply for grants. She
was extremely generous. Her lab at UTM was hard to access without a car so she
offered that I could drive in with her daily. I’ll never forget those drives
where we discussed all aspects of music and development and many other things. Sandra
was fearless and she and her husband would travel to remote areas. We always
worried she might not make it back, but when she did she had amazing stories to
tell. Sandra gave me freedom to explore my own ideas while providing a critical
sounding board, values I try to emulate with my own students.
Laurel Trainor
Sandra taught me so many things. I deeply respected and admired her as a generous and patient mentor, a wonderful friend, a brave
adventurer, and an all around kind and lovely human being. I too enjoyed daily car rides with Sandra to and from campus, when we would talk about science, politics, family,
travels, food, life... She taught me
so much about writing and communicating my work, but she also modelled what a
mentor should be. She was the person who taught me how
important it is to find true balance, to pursue your professional passion but also live a good life and love your people. She profoundly shaped not just my
career but the person I am today and I will forever be grateful to her.
Erin Hannon
Sandra had
the highest expectations for her students but also for herself. I learned so
much from Sandra and admire her more every year in my professional career when
I realize the enormity of her work and how much she gave back to students and
colleagues. Her red pen edits that covered every page of my rough drafts helped
shape me into a much better writer and thinker. She taught me academic
integrity by example. But she also modeled how to be a good human and world
citizen. Sandra brought me to talks by Canadian authors like Carol Shields and
Margaret Atwood. We talked about science, art, music, and politics on the car
rides from Toronto to Mississauga and back. I didn’t believe her when she told
me life would get harder after graduate school, but of course she was right.
She raised a beautiful family and an even bigger academic family, and I am so
grateful that I get to be a part of that family.
Tonya Bergeson