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Herbert Thelen was born in 1913 and grew up in Berkeley, California. He was married to Leonora Elizabeth Knox from 1937 until her death in 1977, and married to Sophia Lazarus from 1977 until her death in 2004. He had two children, David and Marian. He died in Laguna Woods, California in 2008.

Thelen graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1934 with a B.A. in chemistry and went on to earn an M.A. in chemistry from Berkeley in 1938. Before coming to the University of Chicago, he taught high school in Oakland, California and was a chemistry instructor at Oklahoma A&M College. He received a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Chicago in 1944, and was a faculty member in the Education department from 1945 until his retirement in 1979, serving as Chair of Educational Psychology. In his research, Thelen worked to integrate behavioral science with the process and practice of education. His work was especially influential in the field of group dynamics, and he conducted two major studies of school children exploring group dynamics in the classroom. He also designed a laboratory to study students from the University’s Laboratory Schools, which operated on the fourth floor of Blaine Hall. His research formed the basis of five books: Dynamics of Groups at Work, Emotional Dynamics and Group Cultures, Education and the Human Quest, Classroom Grouping for Teachability and The Classroom Society.

Thelen was also involved in the greater Hyde Park community, helping to develop the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference as well as neighborhood block groups. He received the Mayor’s Commission on Human Relations annual award in 1951 for his work.