Dorwin Cartwright

Dorwin Philip Cartwright (1915 to 2008) was an American social psychologist and is considered one of the founders of the field of group dynamics. His research and writing covered the mathematical foundations of group dynamics, the sources of social power, the nature of group structure and the causes of risk taking in groups. He spent 31 years as a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. Cartwright belongs to the generation of social psychologists who turned the study of groups from loose observation into a field with formal models and measurable concepts, and his work on power and group structure remains a standard reference point for students of how people influence one another inside organizations and small groups.