Robert Morris Ogden (1877–1959) was an American psychologist and academic. He served as the dean of the

Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences The Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences (CAS or A&S) is an academic college at Cornell University. It has been part of the university since its founding in 1865, although its name has changed over time. It is the largest of Cornell Univ ...

from 1923 to 1945. He was the first proponent of

Gestalt psychology Gestalt psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology and a theory of perception that emphasises the processing of entire patterns and configurations, and not merely individual components. It emerged in the early twent ...

in the United States.

Early life

Robert Morris Ogden was born on July 6, 1877, in

Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...

.F. S. Freeman, Harry Caplan, P. M. O’Leary
Robert Morris Ogden: July 6, 1877 — March 2, 1959
Cornell University Faculty Memorial Statement His father was James Sherman Ogden and his mother, Beulah Maria Carter. Ogden was educated in public schools in Binghamton. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

with a bachelor of science degree in psychology in 1901. While he was at Cornell, one of his professors was

Edward B. Titchener Edward Bradford Titchener (11 January 1867 – 3 August 1927) was an English psychologist who studied under Wilhelm Wundt for several years. Titchener is best known for creating his version of psychology that described the structure of the mind ...

. It was the latter who suggested he do a PhD in psychology under the supervision of

Oswald Külpe Theodor Oswald Rudolph Külpe (; 3 August 1862 – 30 December 1915) was a German structural psychologist of the late 19th and early 20th century. Külpe, who is less well-known than his German mentor, Wilhelm Wundt, revolutionized experimental p ...

, a long-time friend of Titchener's. As a result, Ogden enrolled at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

, from which he received a PhD in 1903.

Career

Upon completion of his PhD, he returned to the United States and served as

Max Friedrich Meyer Max Friedrich Meyer (June 14, 1873 – March 14, 1967) was the first psychology professor who worked on psychoacoustics and taught at the University of Missouri. He was the founder of the theory of cochlear function, and was also an advocate ...

's assistant at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

from 1903 to 1905. Ogden became assistant professor of psychology at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

from 1905 to 1907, where he went on to serve as associate professor from 1907 to 1909, and full professor from 1909 to 1914. In 1916, he became the chair of the Department of Psychology at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, thanks to

James Rowland Angell James Rowland Angell (; May 8, 1869 – March 4, 1949) was an American psychologist and educator who served as the 16th President of Yale University between 1921 and 1937. His father, James Burrill Angell (1829–1916), was president of the Uni ...

. Shortly after, Ogden became chair of the Department of Education at his alma mater, Cornell University, where he taught until his death in 1959. Meanwhile, Ogden was a Visiting Lecturer at the

Harvard Graduate School of Education The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is the education school of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1920, it was the first school to grant the EdD degree and the first ...

in spring 1923. From 1923 to 1945, he was the dean of the

. According to

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

psychology professor

Karl M. Dallenbach Karl M. Dallenbach (October 20, 1887 in Champaign, Illinois – December 23, 1971 in Austin, Texas) was an American experimental psychologist whose interests in psychology were heavily influenced by John Wallace Baird. He was a loyal student of ...

, "Ogden was the first and principal proponent of

in America." Similarly, in his review of Ogden's 1926 ''Psychology and education'', D. T. Howard, a professor of psychology at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, called Ogden's use of Gestalt psychology "a pioneer work." As Dean, he invited German-born psychologists

Kurt Koffka Kurt Koffka (; March 12, 1886 – November 22, 1941) was a German psychologist and professor. He was born and educated in Berlin, Germany; he died in Northampton, Massachusetts, from coronary thrombosis. He was influenced by his maternal unc ...

Wolfgang Köhler Wolfgang Köhler (; 21 January 1887 – 11 June 1967) was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology. During the Nazi regime in Germany, he pro ...

, and

Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin ( ; ; 9 September 1890 – 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social psychology, social, industrial and organizational psychology, organizational, and applied psychology in the ...

to teach at Cornell. Ogden served as the sixth president of the

Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology The Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology is an American learned society. It promotes philosophy and psychology in the Southern United States. History The Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology was co-founded by 36 charter members ...

in 1913. He served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

from 1913 to 1916, and on its Council from 1918 to 1920. He also served as the chairman of section 1 of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

in 1936. Additionally, he served as the president of the Association of Colleges and Universities for the State of New York from 1936 to 1938. He was a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

Phi Kappa Phi The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to the area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of educa ...

Phi Delta Kappa PDK International (also known as PDK or Phi Delta Kappa International) is an international professional organization for educators. It was founded on January 24, 1906, at Indiana University. The fraternity administers the collegiate honor society ...

, and

Psi Chi Psi Chi () is a college student honor society in psychology with international outreach founded in 1929 at the University of Kansas in the United States. Psi Chi is one of the largest honor societies in the United States, with more than 1,100 chap ...

. Ogden was a cooperating editor of ''

Psychological Bulletin The ''Psychological Bulletin'' is a monthly Peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes evaluative and integrative research Literature review, reviews and interpretations of issues in psychology, including both qualitative (narrative ...

'' from 1909 to 1929, and of the ''

American Journal of Psychology The ''American Journal of Psychology'' is a journal devoted primarily to experimental psychology. It is the first such journal to be published in the English language (though ''Mind'', founded in 1876, published some experimental psychology earl ...

'' from 1926 to 1959.

Personal life

Ogden married Nellie Dorsey in 1905. They had a son, Jonathon Ogden, and two daughters, Mrs Stewart Hemingway and Mrs Frederick S. Brown.

Death

He died of

carcinoma Carcinoma is a malignancy that develops from epithelial cells. Specifically, a carcinoma is a cancer that begins in a tissue that lines the inner or outer surfaces of the body, and that arises from cells originating in the endodermal, mesoder ...

of the

pancreas The pancreas (plural pancreases, or pancreata) is an Organ (anatomy), organ of the Digestion, digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdominal cavity, abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a ...

on March 2, 1959, at the Tompkins County Memorial Hospital in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

Works

*''An introduction to general psychology'' (1914) *''Hearing'' (1924) *''Psychology and education'' (1926) *''The psychology of art'' (1938)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogden, Robert Morris 1877 births 1959 deaths People from Binghamton, New York Cornell University alumni University of Würzburg alumni University of Tennessee faculty University of Kansas faculty Cornell University faculty 20th-century American psychologists Deaths from pancreatic cancer in New York (state) Members of Phi Kappa Phi