Jim Flynn

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FLYNN, Jim (1934 - 2020) was Professor Emeritus at the University of Otago and an internationally renowned author of non-fiction books, scholarly papers and articles. Flynn was born in Washington D.C. and graduated with a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1958. He lectured in America until 1963, when he immigrated to New Zealand and took a lecturing role at the University of Canterbury. In 1967, he became a professor at Otago University, which in 2002, awarded him its Distinguished Research Medal and, in 2010, an honorary Doctorate of Science.

Flynn was an internationally renowned author of non-fiction books that aimed to illuminate a wide range of subjects: the basic problems of philosophy, the theory of intelligence, US politics, climate change, and the tools needed by those who want to master the modern world. His work has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Korean, Arabic, Italian and Japanese.

He wrote several books on the theory of intelligence. Early works include Race, IQ, and Jensen. (Routledge, 1980), and Asian Americans: Achievement beyond IQ (Erlbaum, 1991).

He was perhaps best known for his pioneering discovery, known worldwide as the ‘Flynn effect’, that over the past century, IQs have been steadily rising. Publishers Weekly called his book, What is intelligence? Beyond the Flynn Effect (Cambridge University Press, 2007) “an impressively multidimensional and often wise look at the elusive topic of human intelligence.” Malcolm Gladwell, in The New Yorker, wrote that the book consisted of “a series of plainly stated statistical observations, in support of deceptively modest conclusions.”

In 2012, Flynn published How to improve your mind: Twenty keys to unlock the modern world (Wiley-Blackwell), in which, as the Christchurch Weekend Press observed, he “provides the critical tools necessary for reassessing the irrational beliefs each of us hold and, in so confronting, end them.”

That year, he also published Are we getting smarter: Rising IQ in the twenty-first century (Cambridge University Press), which ScienceNews said confirmed Flynn’s position as “one of the most original thinkers in IQ testing.”

Intelligence and human progress: The story of what was hidden in our genes (Elsevier) came out in 2013, and in 2016, Cambridge University Press published Does your family make you smarter? Nature, nurture, and human autonomy, which saw Flynn wade into the nature vs. nurture debate, and banish the notion that people’s cognitive abilities are solely determined by their genes.

American politics was another abiding area of interest. In 1967, Flynn published American politics: A radical view (Paul). More recent works included Where have all the liberals gone? Race, class, and ideals in America (Cambridge University Press, 2008), about which Jeremy Waldron, Professor, New York University Law School, said “Flynn's understanding of social and psychological trends...give him unique authority to address these issues about inequality” and Beyond patriotism: From Truman to Obama (Imprint Academic, 2012).

Flynn addressed the basic problems and questions of philosophy in Humanism and Ideology (Routledge, 1973; re-issued 2003), How to defend humane ideals: Substitutes for objectivity (University of Nebraska Press, 2000), which the Australian Journal of Political Science called “a challenging, thought-provoking and thoroughly distinctive approach to ethical theory” and Fate and Philosophy: A journey through life’s great questions (AWA Press, 2012), where Flynn explored the intersection of philosophy with science, and the deep-seated factors that make each person unique.

Climate change is the subject of Senza alibi: Il cambiamento climatico – impedire la catastrofe/No place to hide: Spend an evening to learn about climate change (Bollati Boringhieri, 2015).

In The torchlight list: Around the world in 200 books (AWA Press, 2010) and The New Torchlight List: In search of the best modern authors (AWA Press, 2016) Flynn argued that literature can change lives.

Flynn also authored well over a hundred scholarly papers and articles, and was a keynote speaker at distinguished international institutions and conferences.

As well as the honours bestowed by Otago University, Flynn received numerous others. These included being made a life Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, who in 2011 also awarded him their The Aronui Medal for research of outstanding merit in the Humanities. He was an Honorary Fellow for life of the New Zealand Psychological Society, receiving the Society’s Special Award in 1998. In 2007, the International Society for Intelligence Research made him a Distinguished Contributor, and he was also made a Cambridge University Distinguished Associate of The Psychometrics Centre.

Flynn was technically retired when an interviewer from The Guardian noted, ‘his working life suggests otherwise. “I just carry on doing what interests me,” [says Flynn], “and go in whatever direction I'm taken.”’

Flynn died in December 2020, aged 86. University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne praised his impact on the university and the wider world.

"We feel the loss of Professor Flynn very keenly. He was a legendary teacher and a giant amongst scholars.

"His work was highly cited across a number of disciplines, his research made a real difference in the world, and his ideas had an immense reach, from high school classrooms to the frontiers of social science research.

"He was an iconic figure around our campus and there will never be another like him.”

MEDIA LINKS AND CLIPS

• Jim Flynn Otago University profile
• Jim Flynn TED Talk
• Article in The Guardian James Flynn: IQ may go up as well as down
• Jim Flynn Cambridge University author page
• Radio New Zealand: The Torchlight List