Banham, Katharine M., b. 1897.

Katharine May Banham (1897-1995) served as a professor in the Department of Psychology at Duke University from 1946 to 1967, specializing in child psychology and development.

Katharine May Banham was born 26 May, 1897, Sheffield, England and died 7 May, 1995, in Buckinghamshire, England. Educated at University of Manchester (England), BS., 1919; Cambridge University (England), M.S., 1921, though this institution did not award degrees to women at that time; University of Toronto (Canada), MA., 1923; and University of Montreal, Ph.D., 1934 (Cum Laude), the first woman to be awarded a Ph.D. from that university.

After faculty and professional positions in Canada, England, Iowa, and New Jersey, Banham was appointed to the Duke University faculty of psychology as Associate Professor in 1946 and Duke University Associate Professor of Psychology, Emerita in 1967. She was appointed Senior Psychologist at the North Carolina Board of Public Welfare in 1950. In addition to summer positions at the New Jersey Children's Home Society (1948), Children's Services of Cleveland, Ohio (1950), and visiting professor at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (1960 and 1962), Banham was appointed as Head Psychologist of the Infant Program at the North Carolina Cerebral Palsy Hospital in 1967 and Consulting Psychologist at Lenox Baker Hospital (formerly called the N.C. Cerebral Palsy Hospital) in 1980. Banham cofounded the Duke University Nursery School in 1946, with Dr. Wally Reichenberg-Hackett, helped to establish the Duke Film Society and the Duke Institute for Learning in Retirement, served in various faculty committees, developed a freshman counseling program, and created psychology courses in the area of infant and child development.

Outside of the Duke community, Banham helped to establish many organizations including the Child Guidance Clinic of Durham; the Committee for Successful Aging; the North Carolina Psychological Association; the Altrusa Club, an all-women philanthropic organization; the French Club; and the Photographic Arts Society of Durham. She was a member and officer of many professional organizations in the United States and abroad. She established and funded the Alice C. Hundley Piano Student Award in 1970, for promising piano players between twelve and fourteen years old and the Anne McDougall Memorial Award for women in 1985, for women students to pursue study in the broad area of psychology whose education has been interrupted or who have not had the opportunity for college education. Honors and awards received by her include the N.C. Cerebral Palsy Award for Merit (1972) as well as certificates and awards of recognition and merit from regional, national, and international organizations. Published in both English and French, major publications include The Social and Emotional Development of the Preschool Child, (London: Kegan Paul, 1931) and Ring and Peg Tests of Behavior Development, (Chicago: Psychometric Affiliates, 1965).