Morris Simon Viteles (March 21, 1898 - December 7, 1996) was an influential researcher and writer in the field of

industrial and organizational psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology), an applied discipline within psychology, is the science of human behavior in the workplace. Depending on the country or region of the world, I-O psychology is also known as occupational ...

. His book ''Industrial Psychology'', published in 1932, was the first comprehensive modern textbook in the field. His writings were so influential that he was often regarded as the founder of the field, although he disavowed that claim.

Early life and education

Viteles was born in Russia in 1898. His parents moved to England when he was an infant, and in 1904, the family moved to the United States. Viteles graduated from high school in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

at the age of 16. He enrolled at the

Philadelphia School of Pedagogy Central High School is a public high school in the LoganLogan Redevelopment Area ...

, initially determined to become a history teacher. However, within a year he had resolved on a career in psychology. Viteles completed his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in psychology in 1918, 1919, and 1921, respectively.

Career

In 1921, Viteles' academic career began when he set up the world's first vocational guidance center at the University of Pennsylvania, under the direction of his doctoral adviser

Lightner Witmer Lightner Witmer (June 28, 1867 – July 19, 1956) was an American psychologist. He introduced the term " clinical psychology" and is often credited with founding the field that it describes. Witmer created the world's first "psychological clinic" ...

. In 1922, Viteles was one of the first to use the technique of

job analysis Job analysis (also known as work analysis) is a family of procedures to identify the content of a job in terms of the activities it involves in addition to the attributes or requirements necessary to perform those activities. Job ''analysis'' pro ...

, which he used to select employees for a

trolley car A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

company. Viteles' 1953 book, ''Motivation and Morale in Industry'', supplemented his seminal 1932 textbook ''Industrial Psychology'' by addressing the organizational side of the field. Both works were sometimes known as the "Bible" of their respective fields. In 1963, Viteles took the position of Dean of the

University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, commonly known as Penn GSE, is an Ivy League top-ranked educational research school in the United States. Formally established as a school at the University of Pennsylvania in 1914, Penn ...

. In 1968, Viteles retired from the deanship, and from the University of Pennsylvania. Following his retirement, Viteles received numerous accolades, including an honorary degree from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1988, Viteles received the Psychological Professional Gold Medal Award from the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

. Throughout his career, Viteles took consulting work with large firms, in addition to his teaching and research. He is consequently regarded as an early example of the

practitioner–scholar model The practitioner–scholar model is an advanced educational and operational model that is focused on practical application of scholarly knowledge. It was initially developed to train clinical psychologists but has since been adapted by other specia ...

. Viteles was also known for the strongly international perspective he brought to the field, building connections with psychologists in numerous European countries. He served as president of the

International Association of Applied Psychology The International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) was created in 1919 by Édouard Claparède under the name of International Association of Psychotechnics (Association Internationale de Psychotechnique) and the secretary general was Jean- ...

from 1958 until his 1968 retirement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viteles, Morris Organizational psychologists University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty 1898 births 1996 deaths