Mary Whiton Calkins

Mary Whiton Calkins was an American philosopher and psychologist whose work informed research on memory, dreams and the self. She developed the paired associate learning technique and a theory of self psychology, and in 1903 was ranked twelfth among fifty psychologists judged most meritorious by their peers. In 1895 Harvard University refused to grant her a PhD because of her gender even though she had completed every requirement, a decision that reflected the limited status of women in graduate education at the time. She taught psychology and philosophy at Wellesley College for four decades, established the first psychological laboratory for women there, and became the first woman to serve as president of both the American Psychological Association and the American Philosophical Association.