Considered a founder of social psychology, Floyd Henry Allport (1890-1978) was Professor of Social and Political Psychology at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs from the time it was founded in 1924 until 1956. During his career he played a key role in bringing about the acceptance of social psychology as a scientific field. His book, Social Psychology (1924), impacted all future writings in the field. He was particularly interested in public opinion, attitudes, morale, rumors, and behavior.

Allport was born on August 22, 1890, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to John Edward, a physician, and Nellie Edith Wise Allport. Allport had three brothers: Gordon W., also a psychologist, Fayette W., and Harold E. Allport.

Allport received his A.B. in psychology in 1913 and his Ph.D in 1919 from Harvard University. In between degrees, from October 1917 until June 1918, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Expeditionary Forces in World War I.

Allport married Ethel Margaret Hudson on October 5, 1917. His second marriage was to Helene Willey Hartley, on September 5, 1938. He had three children: Edward Herbert, Dorothy Fay, and Floyd Henry, Jr.

From 1919 to 1922, Allport was an instructor in psychology at Harvard and Radcliffe, and then until 1924 he was an associate professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In 1924, Allport became one of the original faculty members at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He was a full professor of Social and Political Psychology until 1956. In 1957, after 32 years at Syracuse University, Allport became visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He retired from teaching that year in Los Altos, California. He died in California on October 15, 1978.

Allport published numerous books and articles in the field of psychology. Three of his most influential books are Social Psychology, Institutional Behavior, and Theories of Perception and the Concept of Structure. He conducted research in social psychology with an interest in rumor and morale studies in the U.S. civilian population during World War II and participated in war-effort activities in conjunction with the government and military. Allport also studied social behavior and phenomena of everyday life. In 1954 Allport directed and collaborated in a study of the Structural Energics of Learning.

Allport was the recipient of several awards in recognition of his work. He received the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. He was also a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and received the Gold Medal. In 1957 Sigma Xi presented Allport with a research award for work with "dynamic-structural theory of behavior."

Allport was active in his professional community. From 1921 to 1924, he served as acting editor of the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. He was a representative of the American Psychological Association’s Council of Directors in 1928-1930 and the Association on Social Science Research Council in 1925-1927 and 1929-1931. Chairman of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Science in 1940-194, Allport was also twice a member of the Social Science Research Council. In 1931, he served on a research committee for President Hoover's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership. Allport was a member of the American Psychological Association, Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Sociological Association, the Western Psychological Association, the Psychonomic Society, the American Society for Public Administration and the Society for General Systems Research.

Allport's hobby was painting watercolors of Central New York scenes. He was a member of the Associated Artists of Syracuse from 1931 to 1948 and president from 1944 to 1945.