Co-workers mourn death of professor

IU psychology research associate Sherry Shu-Jung Hu was just beginning her graduate work in psychology at Brown University in 2000 when she became frustrated by of an unfruitful laboratory and the stresses of marriage and school.\nReady to quit her graduate work and move back to Taiwan, she went to the office of then-chairman of the psychology department J. Michael Walker. There, she met a man who would change the rest of her life.\nNow, seven years later, she and the rest of the team at the IU’s Walker Lab are coping with the recent death of Walker, a man they affectionately nicknamed “Michael the Don,” a reference to one of his favorite movies, “The Godfather.”\nWalker, an IU psychology professor, died Saturday night of natural causes. \nAfter her meeting with Walker, Hu became a regular in Walker’s lab, where she continued her work under his guidance.\n“He’s like my father in my heart,” Hu said.\nWhile she was still at Brown, Hu had a baby girl, to whom she gave the middle name “Michelle” in honor of Walker.\nHe inspired Hu so much that in 2004, when he was moving his laboratory to IU, she was one of five students that made the trip with him, she said.The Walker Lab is now used by 16 researchers who all found guidance under Walker, who was involved in many different areas in the psychology department as the Gill Chair and Director of the Neuroscience Program.\nRobert de Ruyter, Walker’s colleague on the Gill Board, will remember how Walker approached life each day.\n“He was irreverent,” Ruyter said. “He didn’t take all things too seriously. He had a nice, quirky way of looking at things, especially other people’s self-importance.”\nAssistant Psychology Professor Heather Bradshaw also met Walker at Brown and decided to make the move to IU with him.\nBradshaw said that, scientifically, Walker will be remembered for his innovation and willingness to experiment.\n“(Walker) tried not to do what everyone else was doing and be daring,” she said.\nBradshaw said researchers at IU will make sure Walker’s work is continued.\n“Many of us are committed to finishing things he started with us,” she said. “People want to not let die the research he spent his life doing.”\nHu said Walker was also one of the most generous people she had ever met. It is common for students to attend a scientific conference each year, she said, but Walker would encourage students to attend as many as they wanted, sometimes paying for them out of his own pocket.\nLast January, Hu was working on her dissertation for her doctorate at Brown University. Walker helped her along the way by making sure she was prepared for her presentation.\nHe accompanied her on the plane back to Brown where it all began. To Hu’s surprise, Walker held a banquet in her honor at a luxurious Italian restaurant that night, inviting her friends and colleagues.\n“He sees his students as people,” Hu said. “He sees our value as a person and cares about our lives.”\nBradshaw said she is still in disbelief about Walker’s sudden death.\n“I still haven’t even had a chance to breathe,” Bradshaw said. “I just assumed I was going to have a mentor for my scientific career. Now I don’t. It’s shattering.”