About Anne Anastasi

Anne Anastasi, known as the "Test Guru", was an American psychologist who specialized in psychometrics. After she earned her BA from Barnard College in 1928, and her doctorate from Columbia University in 1930 in only two years at the age 21, she started her career at Barnard College as an instructor in Psychology. She served as Chair of the Psychology Department at Queens College, and she moved to Fordham University in 1947, where she remained for 38 years until her retirement in 1979. She served as President of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1972; she was only the third woman elected for this position and the first woman elected in over 50 years. Anastasi published more than 150 papers and books including textbooks that are now considered seminal classics. Differential Psychology (1st edition 1937; 4th edition 1981) was described as a classic text by the American Psychological Foundation. She was a pioneer of psychological testing and the textbook Psychological Testing (1st edition 1954; 7th edition, 1996) was the basis for many psychological tests and is considered one of the most important psychology texts of the twentieth century. Anastasi received many awards including the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest award for scientific achievement, presented by President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

Fordham University established the Anne Anastasi Chair in Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology and the Anne Anastasi Memorial Scholarship Fund, which provides fellowships for graduate students in psychology. Since 2008 the Psychology Department at Fordham hosts the annual Anastasi Lecture in her memory.