A native of Philadelphia, John F. Harbeson (1888–1986) attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied in the Department of Architecture under Paul-Philippe Cret, the great exponent of the Beaux-Arts method. Harbeson passed from gifted pupil to master of design and partner in the Cret firm. As professor of design and, eventually, chair at the University of Pennsylvania, he taught by the Beaux-Arts method and, with the publication of The Study of Architectural Design, became its principal historian.