Charles Samuel Myers

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Charles Samuel Myers, CBE, FRS (13 March 1873 – 12 October 1946) was an English doctor and psychologist who helped shape the use of psychology in war and industry. He is best known for his work with the British Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I and for writing about shell shock in 1915. Although he did not invent the term, his article brought attention to the condition and its treatment. In 1921 he co-founded the National Institute of Industrial Psychology (NIIP).

Myers was born in Kensington, London, into a Jewish family. He studied science at Cambridge, earning top marks in the Natural Sciences Tripos in 1893 and 1895, and later earned his medical degree in 1901. He joined W. H. Rivers and W. McDougall on the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait in 1898, studying rhythm in music. He helped establish Cambridge’s first laboratory dedicated to experimental psychology in 1912 and served as its director until 1930. He also edited the British Journal of Psychology.

In the war, Myers worked as a consultant psychologist for the British armies in France. He faced resistance from some military leaders who viewed shell shock as cowardice rather than a medical condition, but he continued to push for understanding and care. After the war, he turned to applying psychology to industry and health, and he played a major role in professional psychology organizations. He served as a leading figure in the British Psychological Society, including as its president from 1920 to 1923, and received many honors, such as election to the Royal Society and the award of CBE.

Myers died in 1946 at his home in Winsford, Somerset. His legacy includes the Charles Myers Library, created by the NIIP, and his lasting influence on psychology in medicine, the military, and business.