Gilbreth, Lillian (Evelyn) (1878–1972)

US consulting engineer and household efficiency expert. With her husband Frank Gilbreth she pioneered the application of motion studies in industry (1910–24). Together they served as consultants to numerous firms in the USA and abroad, and collaborated on several books and many articles. Gilbreth was also an author in her own right, publishing four books. She taught at various colleges including Purdue, Bryn Mawr, Rutgers, and Newark College of Engineering, and served on a number of governmental committees.

Gilbreth was born Lillian Evelyn Moller in Oakland, California. She was a pioneer in making the environment easier for the physically handicapped. She also sought to apply business methods to home economics and the management of the home. This aspect of her and her husband's interest was amusingly captured in a best-seller written by 2 of her 12 children, Cheaper by the Dozen (1949).