Jerome S. Bruner

Jerome Bruner
Bruner pictured in the Chanticleer 1936, as a junior at Duke University
Born	Jerome Seymour Bruner October 1, 1915 New York City, New York, United States
Died	June 5, 2016 (aged 100) Manhattan, New York, United States
Residence	New York City, United States
Nationality	American
Fields	Psychology
Institutions	Harvard University New York University University of Oxford
Alma mater	Duke University Harvard University
Thesis	A psychological analysis of international radio broadcasts of belligerent nations (1941)
Known for	Contributions to cognitive psychology and educational psychology Coining the term "scaffolding"
Notable awards	Balzan Prize (1987), CIBA Gold Medal for Distinguished Research Distinguished Scientific Award of the American Psychological Association
Website www.psych.nyu.edu/bruner/

Jerome Seymour Bruner (October 1, 1915 – June 5, 2016) was an American psychologist who made significant contributions to human cognitive psychology and cognitive learning theory in educational psychology. Bruner was a senior research fellow at the New York University School of Law. He received a B.A. in 1937 from Duke University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1941. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Bruner as the 28th most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Bruner was born blind (due to cataracts) on October 1, 1915 in New York City, to Herman and Rose Bruner, who were Polish Jewish immigrants. An operation at age 2 restored his vision. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology, in 1937 from Duke, and went on to earn a master's degree in psychology in 1939 and then a doctorate in psychology in 1941 from Harvard. In 1939, Bruner published his first psychological article on the effect of thymus extract on the sexual behavior of the female rat. During World War II, Bruner served on the Psychological Warfare Division of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force committee under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, researching social psychological phenomena.

In 1945 Bruner returned to Harvard as a psychology professor and was heavily involved in research relating to cognitive psychology and educational psychology. In 1970 Bruner left Harvard to teach at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. He returned to the United States in 1980 to continue his research in developmental psychology. In 1991 Bruner joined the faculty at New York University.