Lightner Witmer
| Lightner Witmer | |
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| Born | David L. Witmer Jr. June 28, 1867 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | July 19, 1956 (aged 89) Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | clinical psychology, child psychology, educational psychology |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania |
Lightner Witmer (June 28, 1867 – July 19, 1956) was an American psychologist who introduced the term "clinical psychology" and is often credited with founding the field that it describes. Witmer also created the world's first "psychological clinic" at the University of Pennsylvania in 1896, as well as the first journal of clinic psychology and first clinical hospital school in 1907.
Witmer contributed greatly to numerous branches of psychology including school psychology and clinical psychology. He also contributed to the development of the field of special education.
Little is known about Witmer's life. He is described as being an introverted person who limited the information he shared about his personal life.
Lightner Witmer was born in Philadelphia on June 28, 1867. He was born David L. Witmer Jr., but at the age of 50, he changed his name to Lightner. Witmer was born to a devout Catholic mother and father: David Lightner, a Germantown pharmacist who graduated from a Philadelphia College in 1862; and Katherine Huchel, about whom little is known. Lightner Witmer was the eldest of four children, being followed by Albert Ferree, Lilly Evelyn (the only girl), and Paul DeLancey. Later in life, Lightner Witmer was a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. His siblings also did well for themselves: Ferree obtained his physiology doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, Lilly Evelyn received her bacteriology medical degree in Berlin, and Paul DeLancey obtained a doctoral degree in Pharmacy. By the end of 1905, Lightner Witmer and all his siblings had become doctors in a range of science careers.
Lightner Witmer was born two years after the Civil War had ended. As a young man, Witmer wanted a better future and a better world after the social problems he saw as a result of the Civil War. In 1880, Lightner Witmer and his brother, Ferree, enrolled in the prestigious Prep School “Episcopal Academy of Philadelphia”, one of the best schools in America at the time. Witmer and all his siblings attended only top and outstanding private schools.
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