Lillian Evelyn Moller Gilbreth (May 24, 1878 - January 2, 1972) was an American psychologist, industrial engineer, consultant, and educator who was an early pioneer in applying psychology to time-and-motion studies. She was described in the 1940s as "a genius in the art of living." Gilbreth, one of the first female engineers to earn a Ph.D., is considered to be the first industrial/organizational psychologist.

Lillie Evelyn Moller was born in Oakland, California, on May 24, 1878, to Annie (Delger) and William Moller, a builder's supply merchant. She was the second of the family's eleven children. Both of her wealthy parents were of German descent. Educated at home until the age of nine, Moller began formal schooling in the first grade at a public elementary school and was rapidly promoted through the grade levels. She was elected vice president of her senior class at Oakland High School and graduated with exemplary grades in May 1896.  Moller, who changed her name to Lillian during college, continued her education at the University of California, Berkeley, commuting by streetcar from her parents' Oakland home. She graduated from the university in 1900, earning a teaching certificate and a bachelor's degree in English literature, and was the school's first female commencement speaker at the university.  Moller enrolled at Columbia University, intending to pursue a master's degree in literature and to study with Brander Matthews, a well-known writer and educator, but soon realized he did not allow women to study with him or attend his lectures. Following her exposure to Edward Thorndike's psychology courses, she turned to Thorndike and the study of psychology because he did accept female students. After Moller became ill and returned home, she completed a master's degree in literature at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1902. The topic of her thesis was Ben Jonson's play Bartholomew Fair.  Moller began studies for a Ph.D. at the University of California, but took time off to travel in Europe in the spring of 1903. Following her marriage to Frank Bunker Gilbreth in 1904 and relocation to New York, she completed a dissertation for a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1911, but was not awarded the degree due to her noncompliance with residency requirements for doctoral candidates. The dissertation was published as The Psychology of Management: The Function of the Mind in Determining, Teaching and Installing Methods of Least Waste in 1914.  After the Gilbreths relocated their family to Providence, Rhode Island, Lillian enrolled at Brown University. She earned a Ph.D. in applied psychology in 1915, which mader her the first of the pioneers of industrial management to have a doctorate. The topic of her dissertation was efficient teaching methods and titled Some Aspects of Eliminating Waste in Teaching.

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