Francis Mechner

Who is Francis Mechner?

Francis Mechner received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from

Columbia University and his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology (1957)

from the Columbia University Graduate Faculties of Pure Science where

he also served on the teaching and research faculty for four years. His

professional activities and publications have been in basic

experimental research in the field of behavior, behavior technology,

learning, training, education, early childhood development, and theory.

Since 1960, Mechner has started and built a number of corporations

based on new and innovative technology. The first of these was Basic

Systems, Inc., which later became Xerox Learning Systems and then

Learning International. Subsequent ones included Chyron Corporation,

TeleSession Corporation, General Clutch Corporation, and TorqMaster,

Inc.

Mechner is also a serious painter and a pianist of concert caliber. As

a student of strategy games, he achieved a Master rating in chess

(2236), and a "5-dan" rating in the oriental strategy game "go."

Previously, he was heavily involved in lepidoptery, and is fluent in

German, French, Spanish, English, and Portuguese.