Clayton Alderfer
Clayton Paul Alderfer (September 1, 1940 - October 30, 2015) was an American psychologist and consultant known for further developing Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Biography. Born in Sellersville, Pennsylvania, Alderfer obtained his BA in psychology in 1962 at Yale University, where he also obtained his PhD in psychology 1966. In 1977 he also obtained certification by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). After graduation Alderfer started his academic career at Cornell University in 1966. In 1968 he returned to Yale University, where he was researcher, lecturer and program director in the Department of Administrative Sciences until 1992 . In 1992 he moved to Rutgers University, where he acted as the program director for the Organizational Psychology department at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology for 12 years. In the new millennium he started his own consultancy firm. Work. Alderfer further developed Maslow's hierarchy of needs by categorizing the hierarchy into his ERG theory (Existence, Relatedness and Growth).