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Frederick Winslow Taylor arguably is one of the most influential management theorists of the 20th century. His Principles of Scientific Management (1911/1998) had global impact when first published and is still influential. This brief biography delineates key milestones in Taylor’s life and career including his remarkable scientific studies in the steel industry that greatly improved industrial efficiency and the economic status of workers. Taylor’s prescient insights into work performance anticipated many principles and practices foundational to industrial-organizational psychology.

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James McKeen Cattell (1860–1944) was one of the founders of American psychology. While he was not an applied psychologist, his ideas and efforts have been of great benefit to industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. Cattell’s functionalist approach was amenable to applying psychology to business and industry, and under Cattell’s leadership, a number of prominent early industrial psychologists received their training at Columbia University. His research on individual difference characteristics and psychological measurement provided a foundation for the empirical, quantitative approach central to I-O psychology. Cattell founded the Psychological Corporation, which provided consulting opportunities for industrial psychologists. His editorial, publishing, and advocacy work increased the status and acceptance of psychology, including applied psychology, contributing to its growth throughout the 20th century.

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Hugo Münsterberg was born 1863 in Danzig. His early education was diverse, and included writing poetry, and studying art, science, philosophy, and music. At 19, he began medical studies at the University of Leipzig, where he encountered Wilhelm Wundt and became inspired to pursue psychology. Münsterberg’s Ph.D. dissertation, which focused on individual differences, was controversial and diverged from Wundt’s views. After completing his Ph.D. in 1885, Münsterberg worked at Freiburg University, where he conducted research on perception and published significant work, including a rejected thesis idea from Wundt. In 1892, William James invited him to Harvard, where Münsterberg quickly adapted to speaking English and became a prominent lecturer and researcher. Münsterberg had a strong influence on the development of multiple fields including forensic psychology, film studies, psychotherapy, and of course industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. His research on employee selection and his advocating for a focus on worker well-being was ahead of its time. He died in 1916 while delivering a lecture. His work received mixed reviews from subsequent psychologists citing his subjective approach, however, it is difficult to disentangle this later criticism from national politics, which caused strained relations between himself and American colleagues as he defended Germany as World War I began. Regardless, Münsterberg’s legacy includes mentoring future leaders in psychology, advocating for women in the field, and his efforts to bridge American–German cultural understanding. His impact on applied psychology and his role in shaping I-O psychology were undeniably significant.

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Jòzefa Joteyko was one of the most eminent European industrial, work, and organizational (IWO) psychologists of the early 20th century. Her research on physical and intellectual fatigue greatly contributed to the development of the science of work. Her main topics of research were job learning and job adaptation, the study of professional fatigue, the study and prevention of accidents at work, personnel selection and vocational orientation, and the study of individual aptitudes. She believed that general intelligence was becoming increasingly important for workers’ productivity. She introduced new concepts in applied psychology such as the fatigue quotient, the law of pain, and the law of minimum available. She received numerous awards from the most prestigious European academic institutions and was the founder of several psychological journals. Based on her national origin, the years of her research contributions and their importance for the development of IWO psychology, and the awards received, Joteyko might be called the Madame Curie of IWO psychology.

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This chapter summarizes the history of an individual who persevered to surmount challenges and experience a life that exceeded the range imaginable excepting those who best knew her. In doing so, Mary P. Follett by way of her thinking and action left a lasting mark on the body of ideas and practices that participants in organizations have knowingly and unwittingly incorporated in their work for nearly the last one hundred years. She introduced foundational concepts for the study and application of human factors in the workplace, contingency theory, participative management, conflict management, relationship/group dynamics, democratic governance, organizational change and design, and refinements of authority v. power and manager v. leader. Overall, she explicitly addressed the role of an individual in society, and thus, the meaning of life itself. Her contributions stand to be as significant to the future as today.

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Walter Dill Scott (May 1, 1869–September 24, 1955) was a pioneer in the field of applied psychology. Scott contributed to psychological research and practice of advertising and personnel selection, where he authored several of the first texts applying psychology to these areas. Recognized as one of the forefathers of industrial-organizational psychology, Scott served as a faculty member at Northwestern University from 1900 to 1916. In 1916, he went on to serve as the director of the Bureau of Salesmanship Research at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and was the first person to receive the official title of professor of applied psychology. During World War I, Scott was appointed director of the Committee on Classification of Personnel, where he and his team of military personnel experts evaluated the qualifications of over 3,000,000 soldiers for the US Army. In doing so, Scott played a significant role in introducing psychological assessment to personnel selection in the military. Following the war, Scott went on to cofound the Scott Company—the first private personnel consulting company. Scott was elected president of the American Psychological Association in 1919. He served as president of Northwestern University from 1920 until his retirement in 1939.

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In 1900, William Stern founded ‘differential’ psychology, a sub-discipline devoted to the scientific assessment of individual differences in psychological attributes. That sub-discipline would come to be of major importance for the substantive empirical work of generations of industrial-organizational psychologists. This chapter focuses on two of Stern’s articles aimed directly at the testing practices of what he termed ‘occupational psychologists’ (Berufspsychologen). Published in 1929 and 1933, respectively, those articles highlighted some major implications of his overarching worldview, critical personalism, for then-prevailing practices within the field.

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Jean-Maurice Lahy was indisputably one of the founders of European industrial, work, and organizational psychology and one of its worldwide pioneers. His research preceded that of Hugo Münsterberg and the breadth of his scientific contributions and influence on the discipline in Europe was much greater, yet he is not as well known as Münsterberg, particularly among English-speaking researchers. His substantial scientific contributions are extraordinary for a person who had no university education and who had to combine unpaid scientific research with other jobs in order to make a living.

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In terms of discipline building, Charles Myers (1873–1946) was the most important psychologist of the first half of the 20th century. After replacing the cottage that first served as the Cambridge Psychological Laboratory, Myers reformed The British Psychological Society in 1919 before establishing the National Institute of Industrial Psychology (NIIP) in 1921. The NIIP became the chief source of employment for industrial psychologists at a time when job opportunities were scarce. Myers vigorously supported the cause of industrial psychology. He lectured across the world, sat on numerous committees, and raised considerable sums for the Institute. His numerous responsibilities included contacting individuals and firms, obtaining financial support, and introducing scientific methods and ideas to industry. Wary of grand theories, his psychological eclecticism prevented him from leaving a significant scientific legacy. Nevertheless, his organizational ability was his chief contribution to the establishment of occupational psychology in Britain.

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Lillian Evelyn Moller Gilbreth (1878–1972) was a tireless advocate of applied psychology in the early part of the 20th century; asserting, researching, and practicing the applications of psychology that are at the forefront of current industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. She was a consulting pioneer, held academic appointments, and received a plethora of awards and honors for her contributions. Because of her recognized expertise, she was frequently invited to serve on noteworthy committees appointed by all United States presidents from Hoover to Johnson. She exemplified the modern I-O psychologist by successfully blending research, practice, service, and a personal life.

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Many students of industrial-organizational psychology may recall first hearing of Walter Van Dyke Bingham and his pioneering work in World War I with Walter Dill Scott, developing the first selection tests to be used in military assignments. However, diving below the surface reveals Bingham as a pioneer in merging the science of psychology with that of business, staunchly advocating for the applied focus of the field. Indeed, Bingham spent much of his career supporting the value and application of psychology to the “real world,” earning him the label, “the first academic entrepreneur.”

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Harry Levi Hollingworth clearly deserves a place in this book as a pioneer of scientific research studies funded by organizations to solve industry-related problems. Some of his most notable accomplishments were partnering with multiple corporations to carefully conduct true experiments involving pharmacological tests on human behavior, testifying in court regarding those studies, and writing extensively about psychology (25 books and over 100 journal articles). In this brief biography of Hollingworth’s contributions to applied psychology, we describe three studies funded by organizations and thus some of the earliest applied psychological research supported by corporate America.

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Otto Lipmann and Walther Moede arguably represent the full range of development of the concept and movement in Weimar-era Germany known as Psychotechnik (psychotechnics). Both Lipmann and Moede are typically treated individually and separately in histories of applied and industrial psychology. Here, abstracting from their individual biographies and considering them together reveals not only the main forces shaping applied and industrial psychology in Germany but also the contrasts and antipathies in the field in Germany at that time.

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Elton Mayo (1880-1949), originating from Adelaide in Australia, stands as a key thinker in the field of industrial-organizational psychology for his pioneering contributions and work with the Hawthorne studies. More specifically, the studies laid the groundwork for the Human Relations Movement and shifted the field’s focus to social factors and the employee experience. Despite criticisms, the Hawthorne studies set new methodological standards and underscored the profound impact of employees’ emotional states within organizational contexts. Mayo’s legacy continues to shape research and practice in areas such as employee motivation, leadership styles, and organizational culture. Stated simply, Mayo’s enduring contributions influence and enrich our understanding of organizational dynamics.

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What are vocational interests and how should we measure them? This question formed the basis for a lifetime of study for Edward K. Strong, Jr. Of course, Strong’s professional life was more than vocational research, but his Interest Inventory is still among the most widely used and is arguably his most notable contribution to psychological science. This brief biography will describe the early life and education of Strong, his work in advertising, his contribution to the war effort in World War I, his research of second-generation Japanese in California, and his enduring legacy of vocational interest measurement.

Pages: 9

Franciszka Baumgarten-Tramer (1883–1970) was a trailblazing Jewish female psychologist, who was drawn to bridging science and practice. She was a prescient scholar studying topics such as personality traits, source error in testing, leadership, morality, and justice, to name a few. She approached topics that her contemporaries would not dare think of studying, which cost her dearly, as she was never appointed to a professorial role, although she was bestowed an honorary title after her retirement. Baumgarten always made a point to remember those who are voiceless and contextualized most of the works she published. Her contributions to industrial-organizational psychology, therefore, reach farther than in her works on personality, aptitude testing, and managerial practices; her works remind us of the fragility of our place in the world and the importance of situating all human conditions in the environment.

Pages: 6

Bernard Muscio (1887–1926) was a distinguished philosopher and pioneering industrial and organizational psychologist. Despite his significant contributions, he is often forgotten in the field of industrial-organizational psychology due to his strong footprint in philosophy. Muscio’s exposure to mid-century philosophy scholars and the empirical orientation of British philosophy shaped his approach, emphasizing statistical and psychometric techniques to measure individual differences and motor activity. His groundbreaking publication, Lectures of Industrial Psychology, marked the earliest statement on the aims and value of industrial and organizational psychology in Great Britain and Australia. He moved away from the machine analogy of the human worker, recognizing employee well-being as a mutual benefit to work efficiency. He also made significant contributions to the industrial applications in vocational selection and the theoretical and empirical approaches to fatigue. Muscio’s work has left an indelible mark in the history of industrial and organizational psychology, cementing his legacy as an influencing figure in the field.

Pages: 9

Louis Leon Thurstone (1887–1955) was born in Chicago to Swedish immigrants. Initially, Thurstone pursued engineering, and his early career saw inventions like a method for solving problems of water diversion at Niagara Falls, and a motion picture flicker eliminator showcased at Thomas Edison’s lab. He shifted to psychology, studying under Edward Titchener at the University of Chicago. Thurstone’s pioneering work in psychometrics and factor analysis reshaped psychology. He challenged prevailing notions with innovations like the Law of Comparative Judgment, which quantified subjective evaluations. His work introduced statistical techniques to measuring attitudes, influencing fields from job satisfaction to personality assessment to performance measurement. As president of the American Psychological Association and the Psychometric Society, Thurstone advocated for rigorous, quantitative methods in psychology. His legacy includes advancing factor analysis, advocating for subfactors beyond a general intelligence factor, and emphasizing complex structures in data interpretation. Thurstone’s later career at the University of Chicago and University of North Carolina underscored his commitment to integrating theory and practice. His impact on industrial and organizational psychology remains profound, which is evident in our field’s contemporary assessment tools and methodologies. Thurstone’s contributions continue to resonate across psychological disciplines, exemplifying a lifelong dedication to scientific rigor and the practical application of our scientific understanding of human behavior.

Pages: 8

As a scientist-practitioner throughout her career, Marion Almira Bills (1889–1970) identified organizational needs, conducted empirical research in business settings, and recommended specific changes to improve organizational processes. Her research primarily focused on selection, classification methods, compensation, and job permanency, cutting edge topics of the time. Bills was a leading advocate for psychologists in industry and played a critical role in bringing together individuals who were applying psychology in industry during the early years of industrial-organizational psychology.

Pages: 6

Kurt Lewin was once a prominent figure, but in more recent years, his impact often gets overlooked. This chapter briefly summarizes the life and work of Lewin, emphasizing his major contributions and demonstrating why he should be considered a key thinker who has been influential to the field of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. Although it can be hard to pin down, his influence is explored by discussing his research approach (e.g., field theory, action research), the topics he pursued (e.g., three-step model of change), and his continued commitment to bettering society (e.g., through humanistic and democratic values). This discussion highlights how Lewin pioneered or provided a foundation for many of the approaches, concepts, and topics that are still relevant to the field of I-O psychology today.

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Bruce V. Moore (1891–1977) is a pivotal figure in the evolution of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. He made significant contributions to occupational interests and personnel interviews and greatly improved graduate education in applied psychology. Moore published two books: one, co-edited with George W. Hartmann, was entitled Readings in Industrial Psychology; the other, coauthored with Walter V. Bingham, was entitled How to Interview. Moore served as the first chair of the Department of Psychology at Penn State University. During his tenure, he committed to a scientist-practitioner model and cultivated an environment rich in applied research. In his role as the executive officer of the American Psychological Association’s Education and Training Board, Moore was instrumental in the accreditation of graduate programs and organizing conferences that were crucial to developing various psychology subfields. Moore left his mark on the field of I-O psychology and at Penn State; the current Penn State psychology building is still named after Bruce V. Moore today, honoring his lasting contributions to the field and the institution.

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Shigemi Kirihara (1892–1968) was one of the pioneer industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists in Japan. He began field research in the 1920s when Japanese industries increased work efficiency practices in their treatment of the workers’ environment. In 1921, along with other psychologists, Kirihara founded the Kurashiki Institute for Science of Labour where he continued as a researcher and later acted as head and director. Although his commitment to a nationalist view of labor science during wartime was later criticized, his achievements should be remembered by field-oriented I-O psychologists.

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Donald G. Paterson was an important applied psychologist who made lasting contributions to the measurement of individual differences, both for helping organizations select the best employees and to help individuals make sound career decisions. During World War I, he served on the United States Army team to examine recruits for selection and placement, and after the War he worked at the Scott Company before taking a position at the University of Minnesota as a faculty member. Throughout his long tenure at Minnesota, he shaped a program that was known for its rigorous approach to the measurement of individual differences in the service of helping individuals. His career is an important reminder of the interconnection between personnel selection and vocational counseling.

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Elsie Oschrin Bregman (1896–1969) is not as prominent as other individuals in this text; however, she had a successful career studying psychology in industry as well as managing her own consulting business. Her significant contributions to industrial and organizational psychology included pioneering field research and applications of measurement and testing in business settings. While studying for her doctorate, she studied directly with E.L. Thorndike, which proved to be an important connection for her throughout her career. She also worked with James McKeen Cattell of the Psychological Corporation. Her pioneering work changed how psychologists measured mental ability and intelligence.

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While Max Freyd is not as well-known as other psychologists who appear in this volume, he made a significant contribution to industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. Freyd (1896–1951) advocated for an empirical, science-based industrial psychology, and argued for the elimination of the distinction between applied and experimental psychology. His work on employee selection and the validation process was remarkably prescient and helped provide a foundation for current practice. Freyd also conducted early meaningful research on topics such as vocational interests, personality assessment, and test construction. He was a participant in some of the foundational events in the development of I-O psychology in the United States, including the first doctoral program in industrial psychology at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the Personnel Research Federation, where he edited the Personnel Journal. Freyd is one of many psychologists who, although not much remembered today, made solid contributions to the development of I-O psychology.

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Arthur Kornhauser was one of the first industrial psychologists who advocated for using the science to better advocate for the lives of workers including strengthening the effectiveness of labor unions. His research career spanned a variety of topics including early work on psychological tests applied for employee selection as well as studying employee attitude surveys. His most ambitious work, and his last published research, involved surveying Detroit autoworkers and their families on their mental health and drawing connections between mental health and working conditions. Throughout his career, Kornhauser collaborated with private industry, labor unions, and social scientists outside of psychology in a broad way to promote his progressive values.

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Emilio Mira y López was the most eminent Spanish psychologist in the first half of the 20th century and one of the most relevant European psychologists of his time. He was one of the founders of the International Association of Psychotechnics (now called the International Association of Applied Psychology) and participated in all the conferences from 1920 to 1964. In a survey conducted three years after Mira’s death, he was included among the most important psychologists in the history of psychology from 1660 to 1967. Mira was enormously active internationally. From the 1920s onwards, he was an invited lecturer in many European, American, and South American universities and scientific academies giving over 350 invited speeches. He was a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, an invited speaker of the American Association for the Advance of Science, and a research fellow of the Society for the Protection of Science Learning. Some of his books and works were prologued or reviewed by eminent psychologists such as David Wechler, Gordon Allport, George A. Miller, and Walter Bingham. Together with Charles Spearman and Wolfgang Kohler, he represented European psychology in the American Association for the Advance of Science meeting in Chicago in 1929. In Spain, he edited the Medical Journal (1921–1924), the Annals of the Institute of Professional Guidance (1922–1926), and the Journal of Psychology and Education (1933–1937), and he also edited the Brazilian Archives of Psychotechnics.

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Morris Viteles brought a practical Philadelphian approach to industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. Mentored at the University of Pennsylvania by Lightner Witmer and Edwin Twitmyer, he maintained a connection to the University as an instructor and administrator for 45 years and developed his extensive consulting skills and networks with local companies. His salient achievements were gathering and bringing knowledge of European I-O psychology to the early notice of psychologists in the United States, and authoring the comprehensive, authoritative textbook Industrial Psychology in 1932, which set the standard for the synthesis of all aspects of I-O psychology for many years after that.

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This chapter offers a brief biographic account of Chen Li, the founding father of Chinese industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. In the early 1930s, he trained in experimental psychology and industrial psychology in London, United Kingdom. Back in China, his 1935 monograph on industrial psychology established him as a trailblazer there. He made significant contributions by tackling industrial and management problems. However, from 1937 to 1976, Chen’s career faded in and out of brutal wars, industrial demise, political turmoil, and oppressive ideologies. He resumed his active role in I-O psychology after 1977 and remained a paramount figure until his death in 2004. Chen’s life epitomized the field of Chinese psychology in the 20th century.

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Rensis Likert (pronounced “Lick-urt” not “Like-urt”) made significant contributions to industrial-organizational psychology. While most readers are likely familiar with the measurement technique named after him, the Likert Scale, much fewer know of his other contributions. He was influential in the development of intensive open-ended interview study techniques, under his supervision advances in probability sampling procedures were made, he participated in the initiation of human resource accounting, and he made contributions to organizational management and theory. In addition, to these methodological contributions, he led several influential organizations that helped advance the fields of psychology and survey research.

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John Clemans Flanagan (1906–1996) was a pioneering psychologist who made contributions to aviation psychology, education, personnel selection, measurement of job performance, and the study of aging. He led the United States Army Air Corps’ aviation selection program during World War II, and after the war, he used that work to help private airlines develop selection systems. He pioneered the critical incident technique, a cornerstone for selection, and headed Project TALENT, which provided data that helped many researchers in educational and psychological fields. Finally, he was an important researcher in the study of retirement and the aging workforce. In addition to his scholarly work, he founded the American Institutes for Research, an important private-sector research hub that worked closely with public and private industry. During his career, Flanagan served as the president of four divisions of the American Psychological Association (1: Society for General Psychology; 5: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods; 15: Educational Psychology; and 19: Society for Military Psychology).

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Abraham H. Maslow (1908–1970) is one of the most recognizable names in psychological science history. Maslow was one of the founders of the “Third Force” of humanistic psychology, providing an alternative to the entrenched behaviorist and psychoanalytic paradigms of the times. Throughout his career, Maslow contributed to such topics as the study of dominance and sexuality in animal and human behavior and human motivation. He is most well-known for his works in the areas of self-actualization and for his taxonomy of human needs, which have had a profound influence in the training and practice of management.

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Patricia Cain Smith, PhD (1917–2007), left a rich legacy in the science and practice of industrial and organizational psychology. She applied psychological theory and used rigorous research methods to measure and improve the well-being of employees and the effectiveness of organizations. Her pioneering work as a consultant and academic broke down longstanding biases against women professionals. Her ground-breaking studies on the measurement of job satisfaction influenced generations of industrial-organizational psychology researchers. In 1984, she became the second individual to earn the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

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Douglas W. Bray (1918–2006) is best known as the developer of the Assessment Center (AC) technology that is widely used today in business. His career exemplifies the scientist-practitioner model. Beginning with an approach to personality research (also used for selection of spies during World War II), Bray led the development of ACs that are widely used today for managerial selection, training, and development. This chapter reviews Bray’s early life, education, military service, early university employment, and his career at AT&T as well as contributions to the profession. It also describes his role as co-founder of one of the premier consulting companies in the field, Development Dimensions International. Source material includes articles by colleagues who provided personal as well as professional details of his life.

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Mary L. Tenopyr served the industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology profession with distinction from 1950 through 2005. Her primary contributions helped to ensure that the various sources of guidance for this employment-oriented profession including federal employment guidelines, standards of professional practice, and principles for research and use of employment procedures all were based on the same underlying foundation of predictive validity as the primary basis for evaluating the effectiveness and fairness of selection procedures. In addition, Tenopyr provided an exemplary model of professional leadership for women in I-O psychology. During Tenopyr’s span of professional leadership, the percentage of women members of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology increased from approximately 5% to approximately 50%.

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Fred E. Fiedler, considered the father of leadership contingency theory, was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1922. After immigrating to the United States, he became a leading scholar in industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology and leadership. His early observations of patient–therapist relationships and the performance of high school basketball teams inspired the development of the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) contingency theory. His model described how the interplay between a leader’s perceptions of his or her least preferred coworker (LPC score) and situational moderators (task structure, position power, and leader-member relations) enhanced or diminished leader effectiveness. The LPC model has been highly tested and supported under certain conditions. Fiedler’s tenacity in responding to measurement and practical application critiques was evident through his continued testing of the model and later addition of cognitive resources theory. His key contributions to I-O psychology include his contingency model, which was the catalyst for additional research in this area. He was a proponent of inductive model-building and cross-disciplinary research, and he also influenced the field to continue studying the leader-situation interaction.

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An early maxim among doctoral students in industrial psychology was “memorize Guion,” referring to his landmark text Personnel Psychology published in 1965. Robert (Bob) Guion served as President of two American Psychological Association divisions (Division 14 Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Division 5 Evaluation Measurement and Statistics), was the editor of Journal of Applied Psychology (1983–1988), and became a standard setter for practice in employee selection. Perhaps his most enduring contributions were the development of a top doctoral program in industrial-organizational psychology at Bowling Green State University, along with setting standards for measurement and prediction that are the foundation for guidelines for Title VII of The Civil Rights Act.

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Bernard M. Bass, distinguished Professor Emeritus in the School of Management at Binghamton University, was a world-class scholar whom the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology describes as having invented organizational psychology. His contributions to a broad range of academic areas include leadership, group dynamics, social psychology, survey feedback, psychometrics, and participative management. The one area where his passion and persistence led him to focus during his entire career, however, was leadership, more specifically, transformational leadership. By identifying the four roles of a transformational leader, he spawned considerable research among academics as well as practical implications for developing leaders everywhere. He was a co-founding editor of The Leadership Quarterly journal. In fewer than 20 years, that journal became the top academic publication outlet in the world focusing on the science of leadership.

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Affectionately known as Big M, Marvin Dunnette’s legacy is one of influence through his seminal publications and mentorship of others. His contributions were intellectual, iconoclastic, scholarly, empirical – always testing his ideas in the real world and publishing the results. He shaped the science and practice of psychology as it applied to the world of work.

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Edwin A. Fleishman celebrated a lifelong career with several notable contributions to the field of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology, especially in the areas of leadership, human performance description and measurement, and by fostering the international spread of the field. His career rotated between academic and applied positions, making groundbreaking contributions in both domains. After his seminal graduate work with the Ohio State University leadership research group, he moved to the Air Force where he began his work on human performance measurement. He extended this work at Yale University, and then later at the American Institutes for Research and at the Advanced Research Resources Organization. He returned to George Mason University later in his career, where he expanded his earlier work on leadership. Throughout his career, he championed an international focus for I-O psychology. Edwin Fleishman’s extraordinary career of over 60 years, demonstrated the highest level of combined scientific rigor and application.

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Schmidt and Hunter were arguably the most influential industrial-organizational psychologists in the personnel selection field. They developed psychometric meta-analysis, which summarizes a body of psychological research studies, removing the biasing effects of measurement error, sampling error, and range restriction. Using psychometric meta-analysis, the pair conducted multiple influential meta-analyses of the criterion-related validity of personnel selection instruments, often finding that validity coefficients generalized across settings. Schmidt and Hunter also made significant contributions to research methodology, employee selection, individual differences, and the measurement of job performance.

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Not every key thinker in the history of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology could be included in this volume, unavoidably many deserving individuals were left out. In this concluding chapter, five key thinkers who were originally slated to have full chapters in this volume are discussed. In I-O psychology, Max Weber (1864–1920) is best known for his elucidation of the principles of bureaucracy. Henry C. Link (1889–1952) and Harold E. Burtt (1890–1991) pioneered the application of psychology to employee selection, among other accomplishments. Douglas M. McGregor (1904–1964) developed a very influential theory based on managerial belief systems: Theory X and Theory Y. And with his two-factor theory, Frederick I. Herzberg (1923–2000) was one of the first psychologists to study the importance of job content as a source of motivation and satisfaction.