Lewis M. (Lewis Madison) Terman

Born in Indiana in 1877, Lewis Madison Terman became an American psychologist and educator whose career was closely tied to Stanford University. He is most widely remembered for revising the Binet intelligence scale into the Stanford-Binet test, a major tool in the early history of IQ testing.

Terman was also known for launching a long-running study of gifted children in 1921, often called the Terman Study. That project followed highly intelligent children over many years and became one of the best-known longitudinal studies in psychology.

His influence on psychology and education was significant, especially in the way schools and researchers approached testing, ability, and talent. At the same time, his legacy is discussed critically today because some of his views and parts of the testing movement were tied to ideas that later drew serious ethical criticism.