Langfeld, Herbert Sidney, 1879-1958

Herbert S. Langfeld was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 24, 1879. He graduated from Philadelphia Central High School and attended one year at Haverford College before becoming the Naval Attache at the American Embassy in Berlin, Germany.

While in Berlin, Langfeld became interested in psychology and began working with Carl Stumpf. He earned his doctoral degree under Stumpf at the University of Berlin in 1909. He returned to the United States and accepted a position as an Instructor of Psychology at Harvard University. He remained at Harvard for 15 years advancing from Instructor (1910-1915) to Assistant Professor (1915-1922) and finally Associate Professor (1922-1924) before accepting a position at Princeton in 1924. He remained at Princeton until his retirement in 1947 advancing to Professor of Psychology and Director of the Psychological Laboratory. He also served as the Chairman of the Department of Psychology for ten years (1937-1947).

He was a charter member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists and served as the Secretary (1917-1919) and later the President (1930) of the American Psychological Association. He served as the Vice President for the Psychology Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1931) and Secretary-General of the International Congress of Psychology from 1945-1951.

Langfeld edited "Psychological Monographs" from 1931-1934 and "The Psychological Review" from 1934-1947. He was the author of several books and articles, including his most well known book, "The Aesthetic Attitude" (1920).

Herbert S. Langfeld died in Princeton, New Jersey on February 25, 1958.

From the guide to the Herbert S. Langfeld papers, 1916-1947, (Center for the History of Psychology)