George Suci, professor emeritus of human development, died in Ithaca Feb. 11 after a brief illness. He was 72. A memorial service will be held in the chapel of Anabel Taylor Hall on the Cornell campus Sunday, March 8 at 5:30 p.m.; a reception will follow in the Founder's Room.

Before coming to Cornell and the College of Human Ecology in 1959, Suci was a psychologist with the American Institute for Research and a research assistant professor at the University of Illinois in the Institute of Communications Research, where he did pioneering studies on the measurement of meaning (the semantic differential method). Later at Cornell, he conducted important psychological and psycho-physiological studies of language development and the early relations between thought and language in infants and children. The system he developed allowed him to assess what infants between 1 and 2 years of age attend to in visual events and what the conditions are for relating what they see to the language they hear. He used this method in a number of studies to examine and map how infants link language to its referent.

Suci was chair of the Cornell Department of Human Development and Family Studies from 1986 to 1991 and served as an advisor and mentor for many graduate students who have gone on to successful careers in universities and government agencies. He was known for his careful listening and thoughtful attention. His interests included his Romanian heritage and traditions, appreciating nature, growing vegetables, playing guitar, dancing, woodworking and cooking.

He is survived by his mother; four grown children, including Emily Suci of Ithaca; two grandchildren; and his former wife Nancy Suci and his longtime companion, Judy Jones, both of Ithaca.

Suci received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1946 and an M.S. in psychology in 1948, both from Purdue University. He received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Illinois in 1952.