Lillian Moller Gilbreth

Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878 to 1972) was an American psychologist, industrial engineer, consultant and educator who is considered the first industrial and organizational psychologist. Born in Oakland, California, she studied at the University of California and at Columbia University and married Frank Bunker Gilbreth in 1904. With him she ran the engineering and management consulting firm Gilbreth, Incorporated, developing time-and-motion study methods they called the Gilbreth System and offering a constructive critique of Frederick Winslow Taylor's scientific management for neglecting the human element on the shop floor. After his death in 1924 she led the company for decades, consulted for clients including Johnson and Johnson and Macy's, and in 1935 became a professor of management at Purdue. Two of her children wrote Cheaper by the Dozen about their family life.