Abraham Maslow was the eldest of seven children born to poor Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York. An intelligent young man, he first studied law at the City University of New York. Dissatisfied, he transferred to Cornell, went back to CUNY, and eventually attended the University of Wisconsin, which he attended along with his wife and first cousin Bertha Goodman. At this point, he changed his major to psychology, working with Harry Harlow and obtaining his BA, MA and eventually his PhD.
He taught at Brooklyn College and then later at Brandeis University. More importantly he was the creator and leader of humanist psychology, a new school of thought that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. He is remembered for creating the 'hierarchy of needs' with physical needs at the bottom and self-actualization at the top. He died in California in 1970, suffering a heart attack after years of semi-retirement and ill-health. His work and theories focused on positive mental health rather than the treatment of disease, and his study of 'peak experiences' crossed over into religious theory.