As a primary contributor to mental health law reform, she led the way towards humane treatment of patients with behavior and personality disorders.

[2][3] Hildegard was born in Reading, Pennsylvania to immigrant parents of German descent, Gustav and Otyllie Peplau.

Though higher education was never discussed at home, Hilda was strong-willed, with motivation and vision to grow beyond women's traditionally constructed roles.

She witnessed the devastating flu epidemic of 1918, a personal experience that greatly influenced her understanding of the impact of illness and death on families.

[5] Peplau's entry into the nursing profession was not prompted by romantic notions of caring for the sick.

[6] At Bennington, and through field experiences at Chestnut Lodge, a private psychiatric facility, she studied psychological issues with Erich Fromm, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, and Harry Stack Sullivan.

Peplau's lifelong work was largely focused on extending Sullivan's interpersonal theory for use in nursing practice.

[7] From 1943 to 1945, she served as a first lieutenant in the U. S. Army Nurse Corps,[6][8] and was assigned to the 312th Field Station Hospital in England, where the American School of Military Psychiatry was located.

[6] In the early 1950s, Peplau developed and taught the first classes for graduate psychiatric nursing students at Teachers College.

At Rutgers, Peplau created the first graduate level program for the preparation of clinical specialists in psychiatric nursing.

In these seminars, she taught interpersonal concepts and interviewing techniques, as well as individual, family, and group therapy.

Peplau was an advisor to the World Health Organization, and was a visiting professor at universities in Africa, Latin America, Belgium, and throughout the United States.

[1] In 1944, Peplau met an American army psychiatrist who was also briefly stationed at the 312th Field Hospital in England.

Letitia Anne Peplau was born in 1945, later grew up to become a psychology professor at UCLA, and an influential contributor to the scientific literature.

After Letitia's birth, Peplau chose to have no more serious romances, and dedicated her time and energy to her daughter and her career.

[13] Publication took four additional years, mainly because Peplau had authored a scholarly work without a coauthoring physician, which was unheard of for a nurse in the 1950s.