David Krech

David Krech
Native name	Isadore Krechevsky
Born	Yitzhok-Eizik Krechevsky March 27, 1909 Russia
Died	July 14, 1977
Fields	Social and Experimental Psychology
Alma mater	Washington Square College of New York University, University of California, Berkeley
Spouse	Hilda Sidonie Gruenberg

David Krech (March 27, 1909 – July 14, 1977) was a Lithuanian-born American experimental and social psychologist who lectured predominately at the University of California, Berkeley. Throughout his education and career endeavors, Krech was influenced by and collaborated with many psychologists including Edward Tolman, Karl Lashley, and Rensis Likert.

Krech was born as Yitzhok-Eizik Krechevsky, but changed his name to Isadore Krechevsky upon emigration to the United States in 1913. His name was changed to David Krech in 1943 when he married Hilda Sidonie Gruenberg. He did this because he did not want his future son(s) to be labeled with a Jewish name that had held him back in both academic and career pursuits.

Krech extensively researched rats in several university laboratories and found evidence that supported the localization theory of the brain. Later in his career, Krech became interested in the topic of Social Psychology which led him to publishing Theory and Problems of Social Psychology in 1948 with Richard S. Crutchfield (revised into Individual in Society, 1962). Krech also lectured at many universities on the topic of Social Psychology, Experimental Psychology, and others. Because of his involvement in Social Psychology, Krech was appointed by Thurgood Marshall to give expert testimony in the Briggs vs. Elliot court case regarding the "Separate but equal" law. This was the first federal court case that allowed a social psychologist to provide expert testimony. Toward the end of his research career, Krech collaborated with Melvin Calvin, Mark R. Rosenzweig, Edward L. Bennett, and Marian Diamond to research the relationship between brain chemistry and behavior in rats as well as the anatomical neuroplasticy in the rat cortex.

David Krech was born as Yitzhok-Eizik Krechevsky on March 27, 1909 in Svencioniai, Lithuania, to Joseph Krechevsky and Sarah Rabinowitz. He was the second youngest of nine children, one of whom died before adulthood. In May 1913 when Krech was 4-years-old, his Jewish family emigrated to New Britain, Connecticut from Lithuania. There, he attended elementary and secondary school, where he was a very good student and soon became the self-proclaimed "best educated American" in his family. As a child, Krech enjoyed writing short stories, and he studied in a Hebrew school, learning Hebrew and how to read in Yiddish. He had a passion for the Hebrew language and literature that stayed with him throughout his life, even after he rejected formal religion. On September 17, 1943, Krech married Hilda Sidonie Gruenberg in Washington D.C. With Hilda, Krech had one child, Richard, whom would raise Krech's three grandchildren. David Krech died at his home in Berkeley, California on July 14, 1977 at the age of 67.

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