Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr.

Biography

Youth

Gilbreth was born in Fairfield, Maine in 1868 to John Hiram and Martha (née Bunker) Gilbreth. He had no formal education beyond high school. His father ran a hardware store, but he died when Frank was just 3, and his family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. After high school, Frank attained a job as a bricklayer apprentice and then became a building contractor, then an inventor with several patents, and finally a management engineer. He eventually became an occasional lecturer at Purdue University, which houses his papers. He married Lillian Evelyn Moller on October 19, 1904, in Oakland, California; they had 12 children. Their names were Anne, Mary (1906–1912), Ernestine, Martha, Frank Jr., William, Lillian, Frederick, Daniel, John, Robert, and Jane.

Early career

Gilbreth discovered his vocation as a young building contractor when he sought ways to make bricklaying faster and easier. This grew into a collaboration with his wife, Lillian Moller Gilbreth, who studied the work habits of manufacturing and clerical employees in all sorts of industries to find ways to increase output and make their jobs easier. He and Lillian founded a management consulting firm, Gilbreth, Inc., focusing on such endeavors.