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Gilbreth, Lillian Moller, 1878-1972

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Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878-1972) in 1921

Lillian Moller Gilbreth, BA, MA, PhD, (b. Lillian Evelyn Moller May 24, 1878, Oakland, California – d. January 2, 1972, Phoenix, Arizona) was one of the first working female engineers holding a PhD.

She is arguably the first true industrial/organizational psychologist. She and her husband Frank Bunker Gilbreth were pioneers in the field of industrial engineering. Their interest in time and motion study may have had something to do with the fact that they had an extremely large family. The books Cheaper By The Dozen and Belles on Their Toes are the story of their family life with their twelve children.

In 1984, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor^[1]. She is considered "The First Lady of Engineering" and was the first woman elected into the National Academy of Engineering. She was a professor at Purdue University, The Newark College of Engineering and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She served as an advisor to Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson on matters of civil defense, war production and rehabilitation of the physically handicapped.

She and husband Frank have a permanent exhibit in The Smithsonian National Museum of American History and her portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.

Education

She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA (1900) and MA (1902)^[2]^[3]. Lillian completed her dissertation to obtain her Ph.D from the University of California but did not receive the degree because she was not able to complete the residency requirements. Her dissertation was called The Psychology of Management. She later went on to earn a Ph.D from Brown University in 1915. It was the first granted in industrial psychology. She also received 22 honorary degrees from schools such as Princeton University, Brown University and the University of Michigan.

Marriage

Lillian married Frank Bunker Gilbreth (1868 – 1924) in 1904 and they were the parents of twelve children, eleven of whom lived to adulthood.

Their children are Anne, Mary (died in 1912), Ernestine, Martha, Frank Jr., Bill, Lill, Fred, Dan, Jack, Bob and Jane. As of November 2006, Fred and Bob are still alive.

Gilbreth, Inc.

Together she and her husband were partners in the management consulting firm of Gilbreth, Inc. which performed time and motion studies.

References

^ Women On Stamps - Publication 512. United States Postal Service (April 2003).
^ Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Evelyn Gilbreth. Encyclopedia Britannica.
^ Merry Maisel and Laura Smart. Mother of Modern Management. San Diego Supercomputer Center.

Gilbreth, Lillian, As I Remember: An Autobiography, Engineering & Management Press, 1998, ISBN 0-89806-186-5
Lancaster, Jane, Making Time: Lillian Moller Gilbreth, A Life Beyond "Cheaper by the Dozen", Northeastern University Press, 2004, ISBN 1-55553-612-3
Graham, Laurel D. 1994. "Critical Biography Without Subjects and Objects: An Encounter with Dr. Lillian Moller Gilbreth", The Sociological Quarterly 35:621-643.
Sullivan, Sherry. 1995. "Management's Unsung Theorist: An Examination of the Works of Lillian M. Gilbreth", Biography 18: 31-41.
Yost, Edna. 1943. "Lillian Moller Gilbreth", in American Women in Science. Philadelphia: Frederick A. Stokes.
Lancaster, Jane. "O Pioneer", Brown Alumni Monthly 96(5) February 1996. Biography