Richard Leos Jenkins (3 June 1903 – 30 December 1991) was an American psychiatrist known for his work in child psychiatry and juvenile delinquency.
His work on psychometrics with Louis Leon Thurstone found that the youngest child is usually the smartest, and children of older parents are usually smarter than peers.
[1] Jenkins held teaching appointments at several schools, including Acting Superintendent of the Institute for Juvenile Research and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
He then was appointed professor and child psychiatry division chief at the University of Iowa.
He was on the committee which oversaw the second edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.