We describe some of Merl's more subtle contributions that extended beyond his own prodigious scholarly record, his high-quality teaching, and his mentoring of students. The context of our remarks on Programmatic R&D focuses on his contribution to the University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Education. Merl was the first director of the Center for the Study of Evaluation. When leadership passed to his then associate director, Marvin C. Alkin, Merl focused on his greater interest in the area of learning. His work on generative theory, referenced throughout this issue, was adapted with our own interests in complex learning and measurement. His work influenced the research agenda of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing. A great debt is owed to Merl Wittrock for helping to articulate and model the kinds of research that took theory into usable practice.