1871-1939
In the fall of 1887, at age 16, Margaret Floy Washburn attended Vassar College in New York, majoring in chemistry and French. However, her interests changed to philosophy and science when she graduated from Vassar in 1891. This led Washburn to study at the newly established Columbia University under Dr. Cattell. However, Columbia did not accept female graduate students. With three months of valiant effort from Washburn, she was accepted into the university as a “hearer” under Dr. Cattell. He later suggested that Margaret Washburn transfer to the Sage school of Philosophy at Cornell University in order to earn a degree under Dr. E.B. Titchener. Therefore, in 1892, Washburn became Dr. Titchener’s first graduate student. In 1894, she earned her Ph.D. from Cornell University, becoming the first woman to complete her Ph.D. in psychology.
She later taught at Wells College as a Professor of Psychology, Philosophy, and Ethics. She settled and remained at Wells for six years until she went to Cornell’s Sage College as a resident advisor for the women’s dormitory. In 1902, Washburn quit the job of being a residential advisor to become an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati. She was the only woman to have this rank at the University of Cincinnati and remained there for 36 years since 1903.
Her central research interests were animal behavior and the psychological processes of sensation and perception. Washburn’s most notable work was her book “The Animal Mind” in 1908 that discussed experimental work in the cognition of animals. Later on, Margaret Washburn developed a theory of motor that was about consciousness. Her theory then was expounded to turn into her book “Movement and Mental Imagery” (1916). Within her book, she amalgamated the experimental methods of introspection about motor processes.
Earning a Ph.D. in psychology as a woman was an impressive feat in her time period. Married women were not allowed to work as teachers or professors. She remained single for her entire life.
http://www.apa.org/about/governance/president/bio-margaret-washburn.aspx
womenpsychologists 