 arnold lucius gesell (21 june 1880 - 29 may 1961) was a psychologist and pediatrician who helped develop the field of child development. gesell was born in alma, wisconsin, whose dysgenic qualities gesell later analysed in the village of a thousand souls. he was the eldest of five children and the son of a photographer and a teacher, individuals who were both interested in education. watching his younger siblings learn and grow helped to establish in him an interest in children. with plans to become a teacher, gesell attended stevens point normal school after he graduated from high school in 1896. here, he took a course with the clark university-educated edgar james swift, who piqued gesellâs interest in psychology. he worked as a high school teacher briefly, but then went on to study at the university of wisconsin&ndash;madison. there he took history courses taught by frederick jackson turner and psychology courses taught by joseph jastrow, who started the psychology laboratory at the university of wisconsin. gesell received a bachelor of philosophy degree from wisconsin in 1903. he served as a teacher and high school principal before continuing his education at clark university, an early leader in psychology. clark was highly influenced by its president, g. stanley hall, who founded the child study movement. gesell received his ph. d. from clark in 1906. he worked at several educational facilities in new york city and wisconsin before fellow clark graduate lewis terman helped him get a professorship at the los angeles state normal school. there he met fellow teacher beatrice chandler, whom he married. they later had a daughter and a son. after spending time at schools for persons with mental disabilities, such as the vineland training school in new jersey, which was run by henry h. goddard, he developed an interest in studying children with disabilities. determined to become a doctor, he spent some time studying at the university of wisconsin medical school. later he served as an assistant professor at yale university while studying medicine. he developed the clinic of child development there and received his m.d. in 1915. he was eventually given a full professorship at yale. he also served as the school psychologist for the connecticut state board of education and helped to dev
1880_births 1961_deaths American_psychologists Clark_University_alumni Developmental_psychologists People_from_Buffalo_County,_Wisconsin University_of_WisconsinaMadison_alumni Writers_from_Wisconsin Yale_University_faculty