Margaret F. Washburn, the first woman to earn her Ph.D. in psychology, graduated from Cornell University in 1898.
She was a comparative psychologist, She taught at Vassar College, and in 1921 became the second woman president of American Psychological Association (APA). Washburn wrote an influential book, The Animal Mind in 1908. Many early comparative psychology courses used her book, exposing many students to the study of animal behavior.