born Feb. 1, 1844, Ashfield, Mass., U.S.
died April 24, 1924, Worcester, Mass.
U.S. psychologist.
He studied in Germany under Wilhelm Wundt and Hermann von Helmholtz and returned to the U.S. to earn the first psychology Ph.D. granted in America (Harvard, 1878). After teaching at Johns Hopkins University, he helped establish Clark University (1888) in Worcester, Mass., and worked there to shape experimental psychology into a science. He is frequently regarded as the founder of child psychology and educational psychology; he also did much to direct the ideas of Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud into the psychological currents of his time. He founded several journals, including the American Journal of Psychology , and he helped found the American Psychological Association, of which he was the first president. Hall's work gave early impetus and direction to the development of psychology in the U.S.