February 2005: Volume 19. No. 2

Distinguished Scientist Lecturers Selected for 2005 Regional Meetings
by Jeanie Kelleher, Special Programs Associate

Psychologists J. Richard Hackman, Bartley G. Hoebel, and Laurence Steinberg have been selected to participate in the 2005 APA Distinguished Scientist Lecture Program. Through the program, sponsored by APA’s Science Directorate, each psychologist will give a featured address at a regional psychological association annual meeting.

Richard Hackman will speak on “What Makes for a Great Ensemble?” at the New England Psychological Association meeting in New Haven, CT, October 14-15. Hackman is Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University. He conducts research on a variety of topics in social and organizational psychology, including team dynamics and performance and the design and leadership of self-managing groups and organizations. Hackman has received the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of APA’s Division on Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and both the Distinguished Educator Award and the Distinguished Scholar Award of the Academy of Management.

Bartley Hoebel will speak on “Sugar Addiction: Behavior and Neuroscience” at the Western Psychological Association meeting in Portland, OR, April 14-17. Hoebel is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Princeton University. The central purpose of his laboratory research is to reveal principles of nervous system function in the control of motivated behavior patterns such as feeding and drinking. Projects focus on the brain’s reward and aversion mechanisms, which translate physiological signals into behavior. Hoebel has received awards from APA’s Division on Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse and from the American Institutes of Research Creative Talents Awards Program.

Laurence Steinberg will speak on “Not Guilty by Reason of Adolescence: A Developmental Perspective on Youth and the Law” at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association meeting in Phoenix, AZ, April 14-16. Steinberg is the Distinguished University Professor and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology at Temple University. His research focuses on a range of topics in the study of contemporary adolescence, including parent-adolescent relationships, adolescent employment, high school reform, and juvenile crime and justice. Steinberg has received numerous awards including the APA Urie Bronfenbrenner Award for Lifetime Contribution to Developmental Psychology in the Service of Science and Society and the John P. Hill Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Adolescence.

The Board of Scientific Affairs, with the support of the regional association presidents, developed the Distinguished Scientist Lecture Program 15 years ago as part of its ongoing mission to promote scientific psychology. The Distinguished Scientist Lecturers, together with APA’s G. Stanley Hall Lecturers, sponsored by APA’s Education Directorate, allow APA to support invited talks at each regional meeting. For more information on psychology’s regional meetings, visit http://www.apa.org/organizations/regionals.html.