Lillian Evelyn Gilbreth (née Moller; 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.

[6] She was elected vice president of her senior class at Oakland High School and graduated with exemplary grades in May 1896.

[1] In the spring of her senior year the new university president, Benjamin Ide Wheeler, asked her to be one of the student speakers at the commencement ceremonies.

Under the supervision of Gayley, she wrote a thesis on Ben Jonson's play Bartholomew Fair, and received her master's degree in the spring of 1902.

[14] 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.

[19] He had apprenticed in several building trades in the East and established a contracting business with offices in Boston, New York, and London.

[24] In addition to jointly running Gilbreth, Incorporated, their business and engineering consulting firm, Lillian and Frank wrote numerous publications as sole authors, as well as co-authoring multiple books and more than fifty papers on a variety of scientific topics.

Although her credentials included a doctorate in psychology, she was less frequently credited in their joint publications than her husband, who did not attend college.

[27] After Frank's passing and the mourning period, Lillian found that the homages to her husband were not a sign of her own taking, when three of her biggest clients did not renew or cancelled contracts.

These filmed observations enabled the Gilbreths to redesign machinery to better suit workers' movements to improve efficiency and reduce fatigue.

[33] In addition, Gilbreth turned her attention to the home, despite her aversion to housework and the fact that she had long employed full-time household help.

"[32] Due to discrimination within the engineering community, Gilbreth shifted her efforts toward research projects in the female-friendly arena of domestic management and home economics.

[32] She applied the principles of scientific management to household tasks and "sought to provide women with shorter, simpler, and easier ways of doing housework to enable them to seek paid employment outside the home.

[35] In addition, Gilbreth was instrumental in the development of the modern kitchen, creating the "work triangle" and linear-kitchen layouts that are often used today.

[35] She is also credited with the invention of the foot-pedal trash can, adding shelves to the inside of refrigerator doors (including the butter tray and egg keeper), and wall-light switches, all now standard.

[32] Gilbreth filed numerous patents for her designs, including one to improve the electric can opener and another for a wastewater hose for washing machines.

Solutions included changing light fixtures to reduce eye fatigue and eliminating duplicate recordings of sales checks.

Third, her public image as a mother and a modern career woman could help the firm build consumer trust in its products.

In 1927 she became a charter member of the Altrusa Club of New York City, an organization for Professional and Business Women started in 1917 for the purpose of providing community service.

[45] During the Great Depression, President Hoover appointed Gilbreth to the Organization on Unemployment Relief as head of the "Share the Work" program.

[49] In her later years, Gilbreth served on the Chemical Warfare Board[50] and on Harry Truman's Civil Defense Advisory Council.

[54] While residing in Providence, Rhode Island, Gilbreth and her husband taught free, two-week-long summer schools in scientific management from 1913 to 1916.

"[56] Coursework included laboratory projects and field trips to private firms to witness the application of scientific management.

[62] In cooperation with Marvin Mundel, Gilbreth established and supervised a time-and-motion-study laboratory at Purdue's School of Industrial Engineering.

[68] Whilst teaching at Bryn Mawr, she met then student of social economy, Anne Gillespie Shaw, who later worked for Gilbreth Management Consultants, doing commercial research studies and became a lifelong friend and colleague.

[70] In 1968, when her health finally began to fail, Gilbreth retired from her active public life and eventually entered a nursing home.

Dubbed "America's first lady of engineering,"[73] she brought her training in psychology to time-and-motion studies and demonstrated how companies and industries could improve their management techniques, efficiency, and productivity.

Gilbreth's extensive research and writings on her own and in collaboration with her husband emphasized "the human element in scientific management.

"[74] Her expertise and major contribution to the field of scientific management was integrating the psychological and mental processes with the time-and-motion studies.

[81] The Lillian M. Gilbreth Distinguished Professor award at Purdue University is bestowed on a member of the industrial engineering department.