Adler University is named for Alfred Adler (1870-1937), a physician, psychotherapist, and founder of Adlerian psychology, sometimes called individual psychology. He is considered the first community psychologist, because his work pioneered attention to community life, prevention, and population health. Adler held equality, civil rights, mutual respect, and the advancement of democracy as core values. He was one of the first practitioners to provide family and group counseling and to use public education as a way to address community health. He was among the first to write about the social determinants of health and of mental health.

In 1952, Rudolf Dreikurs (1897-1972), one of Adler’s advocates and followers, founded the Institute of Adlerian Psychology that, in 1954, changed its name to the Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago (later the Adler School of Professional Psychology, in 1991, and Adler University today). Early instructors and founders of the Institute were Bernard Shulman, Harold Mosak, Bina Rosenberg, and Robert Powers.