Julie S. Vargas, Ph.D.

Julie Vargas (formerly Skinner) was born in 1938 in Minneapolis where she lived for six years. After 2 years in Indiana, her family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. She received her bachelors in music from Radcliffe College, a masters in music education from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in educational research from the University of Pittsburgh. She taught 3rd and 4th grade before becoming a faculty member at West Virginia University where she and her husband, Ernest A. Vargas, taught for over 30 years in the College of Human Resources and Education.

Dr. Vargas published Writing Worthwhile Behavioral Objectives in 1973 and Behavioral Psychology for Teachers in 1977, both with Harper & Row. She has a coauthored book, Teaching Behavior to Infants: A Manual for Childcare Workers and Parents with Charles C. Thomas, 1990. Her more recent publications have been articles, including two 2005 entries on B. F. Skinner in Volumes I and III of The Encyclopedia of Behavior Modification and Cognitive Behavior Therapy.

Dr. Vargas is President of the B. F. Skinner Foundation, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is currently working on a text on applied behavior analysis for educators.