Early life and education Angell was born on May 8, 1869, in Burlington, Vermont. He was born into one of the stellar academic families in American history. A sixth-generation descendant of
Thomas Angell who settled
Providence, Rhode Island, James's father,
James Burrill Angell, was the president of the
University of Vermont and thence president of the
University of Michigan. He was the youngest of three children, with an older brother and sister. When Angell was two years old, his family moved to Ann Arbor so that his father could take up the presidency of the
University of Michigan. His maternal grandfather,
Alexis Caswell, was a professor of mathematics and
astronomy at
Brown University, later becoming its president. He was also a charter member of the
National Academy of Sciences. His brother
Alexis C. Angell became a professor of law of Michigan, and later a federal judge. His sister's husband,
Andrew C. McLaughlin, was head of the history department at Michigan. His cousin,
Frank Angell, founded psychology laboratories at
Cornell and
Stanford Universities. Angell graduated from the
University of Michigan with his bachelor's degree in 1890. He worked closely with
John Dewey, earning a master's degree under his supervision in 1891. At Michigan he was a member of
Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Omicron chapter). He then went to
Harvard University where he received a second master's degree in 1892 in
psychology. He studied for a doctorate in philosophy in Berlin and Halle. His dissertation on the treatment of freedom in Kant was accepted, but required stylistic changes, which he never completed. Instead, he decided to take up a post at the
University of Minnesota. He did, however, receive 23 honorary degrees during his lifetime.
Career In 1895, Angell was offered a position at the
University of Chicago by
John Dewey, who had moved from Michigan the year before. Almost immediately, he co-authored an article with his Chicago colleague
Addison W. Moore that simultaneously settled a nasty dispute between
Cornell psychologist
Edward Bradford Titchener and
Princeton psychologist
James Mark Baldwin as well as laying the foundations for the school of
Functionalism. Later, while still at Chicago, Angell published the textbook
Psychology; An Introductory Study of the Structure and Functions of Human Consciousness in 1904, which became the major statement of the
functionalist approach to psychology. Angell noted that the goal of psychology was to study how the mind helps the organism adjust to the environment and
functionalism was a method in which to study consciousness and how it improves the organism relationship with the environment. As president of Yale, Angell was a proponent of
eugenics.
NBC Angell's role at NBC was to "devise and suggest methods by which we may more capably serve radio's listening millions". He often wrote about that topic and lectured about it. Angell was a driving force behind the development of the art-appreciation program
Art for Your Sake, which debuted on NBC radio in October 1939. He was also chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Art Society, which devoted efforts to "'mass production plus mass distribution' of cultural products". who brought great joy to his life because of the interest she took in his students and problems. Katharine Angell founded the New Haven Restaurant Institute, later known as the
Culinary Institute of America. ==Functional psychology==