Timeline

1917-1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

1944
Dr. David Boder opens Psychological Museum on the fourth floor of Chapin Hall to public. Click here to view newspaper article "Psychology Museum Exhibit Draws Record Attendance."

1945
Institute for Psychological Services is established and George S. Speer named first director. Click here to view press release (PDF file).

1946

Psychology faculty David Boder interviews over 100 WW II displaced persons with the new wire recording device developed by Marvin Camras. Click here for Voices of the Holocaust

IIT initiates the masters and doctoral programs in psychology

Dr. Phil Shurrager is appointed professor of Psychology and Chairman of the Department of Psychology and Education, after leaving a management engineering firm where he was an industrial psychology consultant

A new curriculum, Industrial and Personnel Psychology, is added to the IIT catalog

1947
Department of Psychology and Education accepts its first six graduate students

Dr. Willard Kerr leaves Tulane University to join the department as associate professor

Apprenticeships are offered in the municipal courts of Chicago and the Institute for Juvenile Research

1948
Dr. Willard Kerr develops method for quantifying blood-alcohol levels over specific time periods

In the spring, IIT awards its first masters degree in psychology

Three men and two women graduate with the B.S. in psychology

George Speer is awarded diploma by American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology. Click here to view press release.

A course in Experimental Psychology is offered for the first time and courses in clinical and industrial psychology are offered for the first time in summer session

The Department of Psychology and Education awards its first B.S. in Psychology

Psychology Department screens over 100 applicants for clerical positions at IIT, computing norms based on IIT's current clerical population and comparing applicants to the group they may join

1949
Dr. Boder's book, I Did Not Interview the Dead, is selected as one of fifty books of the year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts

Enrollment and staff double, with 30 undergraduates, including the first out-of-state students