Margaret Floy Washburn (1871-1939)

Professional Life
Margaret Floy Washburn was born in New York City on July 25, 1871. She began college at the age of 15 and soon became a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie. She graduated from Vassar in 1891 and had her heart set on studying at Columbia. But because no women were permitted to attend Columbia at the time, she entered the college as an observer and went on to attend the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell. As the only graduate student under E.B. Titchener, Washburn was responsible for all experiments and research. She earned her Master’s degree in 1893 and one year later made history as the first woman to earn a PhD in Psychology. She immediately joined the American Psychological Association and began teaching. She spent time at several colleges, including Sage College, Wells College and the University of Cincinnati. Washburn returned to her Alma mater in 1903, when she accepted the position of Associate Professor of Philosophy at Vassar. She held the position until her retirement in 1937.

Contribution to Psychology
One of Washburn’s most influential books was The Animal Mind, published in 1904. Washburn theorized that animals possessed many traits similar to humans, specifically the material and immaterial traits proposed by Rene Descartes. Washburn believed that like humans, animals possessed both aspects of this dualism, a body and a mind. Through her extensive animal studies, Washburn was able to provide evidence of a definitive mental process within the animal mind.

Washburn contributed greatly to the advancement of psychology through her research on animals and her theories involving emotions, intellect, and motor imagery. She achieved recognition that was unparalleled by many men of her time, including being named as the president of the American Psychological Association. She chaired several committees and was elected to numerous organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Committee on Psychology, the National Academy of Science, and the National Research Council Division of Psychology and Anthropology. In addition to The Animal Mind, Washburn also wrote Movement and Mental Imagery. During her long career, Washburn also authored dozens of studies and edited academic journals.