University of Michigan. Department of Psychology

Psychology as a separate course of study was not recognized in the United States until the last quarter of the nineteenth century. At the University of Michigan, the Department of Psychology was officially formed in 1929, but instruction in psychology or "Mental Philosophy" as it was called, was available from the Department of Philosophy from 1852. Many prominent figures in early American psychology taught at the University of Michigan. President Tappan, who was professor of mental philosophy as well as president of the university, taught courses in mental philosophy from 1852 to 1863. Other important figures included John Dewey who established the first psychological laboratory, George Herbert Mead and James H. Tufts, who each briefly held positions at the school in the 1890s. Walter Pillsbury, the first professor to be appointed to the newly separated Department of Psychology, revived laboratory psychology in 1898 and headed the department from 1929 to 1942. He built its reputation as an excellent teaching department with a research emphasis on experimental psychology.

The department boomed after the Second World War as it began to take on its modern attributes: a large staff, many professors engaged in interdisciplinary research, a large number of graduate students, and a nationally ranked program. Much of the credit for this growth and diversification is laid to the work of Donald G. Marquis, department chairman from 1945 to 1957.

In the early 1960s the department introduced subdisciplines to facilitate communication between faculty and students in the huge department. These subdisciplines also allowed students to specialize within a field of study that was growing more and more diverse. The subdisciplines as they stand today include experimental, clinical, community, physiological, mathematical, personality, social, psychobiology (neuroscience), developmental, industrial, and general psychology.

In recent years the growth has slowed, but the national reputation and solid work done in clinical, social, and mathematical psychology endure. The Department of Psychology at this time is one of the largest departments of the university and boasts some of the highest class enrollments at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

From the guide to the Dept. of Psychology (University of Michigan) records, 1926-1989, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)