Lillian Moller Gilbreth

Lillian Moller Gilbreth was an American psychologist, industrial engineer, consultant and educator, born in Oakland, California in 1878 and died in 1972, who was an early pioneer in applying psychology to time-and-motion studies. She earned a Ph.D. in applied psychology at Brown University in 1915 and is considered the first industrial and organizational psychologist. With her husband Frank Bunker Gilbreth she ran the consulting firm Gilbreth, Incorporated, and the two were efficiency experts who contributed to industrial engineering, especially motion study and human factors. She later taught at Purdue University, where she set up a time-and-motion-study laboratory, and she became known as America's first lady of engineering. Her family life was told in Cheaper by the Dozen (1948), written by two of her children.