Date: February 20, 2004
Contact: APA Office of Public Affairs
(202) 336-5700

Steven J. Breckler to Join American Psychological Association as Executive Director for Science

WASHINGTON -- Steven J. Breckler, PhD, currently a program director at the National Science Foundation, will join the American Psychological Association (APA) as its Executive Director for Science on March 29.

Breckler, a social psychologist by training, has over 20 years experience as a psychology professor and science administrator including directing the NSF social psychology and Science of Learning Centers programs.

Breckler is the author or co-author of over 60 published or conference papers on topics ranging from attitude development to jury functioning.

“I am thrilled to be joining APA,” Breckler says. “This is a great opportunity for me to use everything I’ve learned as a researcher, teacher, and Federal grants administrator to promote the science of psychology. APA is unique in its ability to represent all of contemporary psychology. My goal is to advance psychological science in partnership with the Practice, Education and Public Interest Directorates.”

In announcing Breckler’s hiring, APA CEO Norman Anderson, PhD, said, “We are fortunate to have someone with the scientific and administrative credentials of Dr. Breckler to lead our Science Directorate. His broad research expertise and his many achievements in academia, coupled with his understanding of the intricacies of Federal research funding and policy, provide the prefect combination of experience for the job. We all look forward to working with him as he crafts a new agenda for psychological science at APA.”

Breckler assumes the leadership of the APA Science Directorate, an 18 person and $4 million dollar program, with activities in support of psychological science such as Advanced Training Institutes for mid-career scientists, a science advocacy program and task forces on behavioral genetics, testing on the Internet and research regulations.

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world’s largest association of psychologists. APA’s membership includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 53 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.

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