Papers of Truman Lee Kelley

Truman Lee Kelley (1884-1961), psychologist and educator, taught education at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education from 1931 until his retirement in 1950. He received his AB in mathematics from the University of Illinois in 1909, his AM in psychology in 1911, and his PhD from Columbia University in 1914. Kelley then held positions as an instructor at the University of Texas from 1914 to 1917 and at the Teachers College at Columbia University from 1917 to 1920. During this period, Kelley also worked as a psychological consultant for several government offices, including the Committee on Classification of Personnel, the United States Army, and the Surgeon General’s Office. His work with the government involved using his ideas on the statistical treatment of data to predict, by means of psychological tests, the performance of a person in a particular job. Kelley began teaching at Stanford University in 1920, then went to Harvard University, where he taught at the Graduate School of Education from 1931 until he retired in 1950.

Kelley published several influential books throughout his career, including Statistical Method (1923), Essential Traits of Mental Life (1935), and The Kelley Statistical Tables (1938). Kelley died in 1961.