Capaldi, Elizabeth D.
Biographical Information
Elizabeth Deutsch Capaldi was born in 1945 in New York City. She graduated from Flushing High School. Capaldi earned her BA from Rochester University in 1965. She attended graduate school at the University of Texas, and earned her PhD in Experimental Psychology there in 1969.
After graduating, Capaldi joined the faculty in the Department of Psychological Sciences as an assistant professor. She was promoted through the ranks during her tenure at Purdue, and eventually served as the Head of the Department of Psychological Sciences (1983-1988) and the the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School (1982-1986).
After leaving Purdue, Capaldi moved to the University of Florida as a Professor, and was appointed Provost in 1996. From Florida, Capaldi was hired as the Provost at the University of Buffalo (2000-2003). She was also appointed the Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff at the State University of New York (2003-2006). Finally, Capaldi moved to Arizona State University as the Executive Vice President and Provost (2006-2013). She became Provost Emerita in 2013 continued to serve in the Psychology Department.
Capaldi's research focused on the psychology of eating, and over the course of her career she published over 80 articles and chapters. She also edited and published two books. After her long career in academia, Capaldi merged her passion for research and cooking into the development of a television show: Eating Psychology with Betty.
Betty was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the Psychonomic Society, and the Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA). She was served as president of both APS (1999–2000) and MPA (1991–1992). While in New York, Capaldi was on the Board of the Buffalo Museum of Science. Betty Capaldi died in 2017 after a short battle with brain cancer.