Lillian Evelyn Moller Gilbreth
Personal Information
Born: 1878
Died: 1972
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
UC Berkeley BA English 1900 & MA Literature 1902; Columbia University; Brown University PhD Applied Psychology 1915
Professional Life
Field of Study: Industrial Engineering; Psychology
Institution/Corporation: General Electric; Johnson & Johnson; Macy s; IBM
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degrees: 23 including: Rutgers University, Princeton University, Brown University, Smith College & University of Michigan: Member: National Academy of Engineering (1965), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME, 1926), charter member Altrusa Society of NY (1927), Board of Directors Girl Scouts, Chemical Welfare Board, American Society of Industrial Engineers (1921), British Women;s Engineering Society (1924), Purdue University chapter of Mortar Board (1941),Society of Women Engineers (1950)
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1966, Hoover Medal; 1931, Gilbreth Medal; 1944, Henry Laurence Gantt Medal, ASME (with husband Frank B. Gilbreth);1951, Wallace Clark Award; 1954, Alumna of the Year Award, University of California; Gold medal, US National Institute of Social Sciences; 1984, USPS issued a 40-cent stamp in her honor, only psychologist on a US stamp; 1995, US National Women s Hall of Fame
Achievements: Pioneer in applying psychology to time & motion studies; 1 of the 1st women engineers to earn a PhD; considered the 1st industrial/organizational psychologist; conducted research & consulting with husband Frank Bunker Gilbreth and were considered efficiency experts; 1st female to speak at a University of California commencement (1900); 1st pioneer of industrial management to have a PhD; introduced the concept of using psychology to study management in 1911; she and Frank ran Gilbreth, Inc a consulting company & she ran it after his death in 1924; used motion picture cameras to record work processes & study them to improve efficiency & reduce fatigue; some of their innovations included improved lighting, regular breaks, suggestion boxes & free books; created the work triangle, standardized counter heights, & linear kitchen layouts, credited with inventing the foot-pedal trash can, adding shelves to refrigerator doors (including butter trays & egg keepers), wall-light switches, improved electric can openers, & wastewater hose for washing machines (no patents located); 1930, headed women s section of the President s Emergency Committee for Employment; 1935, US 1st female engineering professor; 2nd person named Honorary member of the American Society of Engineers (1921); 1st woman named to American Society of Mechanical Engineers; 1st recipient of the Gilbreth Medal (named after her husband); 1st woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering (1965); 1st woman recipient of the Hoover Medal (1966)
Efficiency expert; with husband, Frank, conducted time/motion studies
Known for adding shelves to refrigerators, adding a foot pedal to kitchen trash cans, & designing kitchens for people with disabilities
1st female appointed a professor of management at Purdue University
Had 12 children; book & movie, "Cheaper by the Dozen" is based on her family
She & Frank divided workers' hand movements into 17 different units they called therbligs
1st female to join the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1926)
Was taught at home by her parents & tutors until entering public school at age 9
1st female to speak at a University of California commencement
1st female recipient of the Hoover Medal. In the late 1920s, Lillian Gilbreth enlisted her children — she had 11— in an experiment: bake a strawberry shortcake in record time. Kitchens at the time tended to have haphazard configurations—pots and pans could be at one end of the kitchen, the stove in another, and the utensils in another room altogether—but Lillian figured that with a well-designed kitchen, she could slash baking time dramatically and make cooks’ lives easier. And if anyone was going to hack the kitchen, Lillian Gilbreth was the woman for the job. Lillian and her late husband, Frank, were absolute fiends for efficiency. They’d used the study of “time and motion” to dissect the activities of factory and office workers, and had made a business of optimizing efficiency in the workplace. Now widowed, Lillian Gilbreth, was set to tackle efficiency in the home when their clients would continue working with her and the business failed. Her innovations—she’s widely credited with inventing the pedal trash can and refrigerator door shelves—live with us to this da