WASHINGTON — Psychologist Steven Breckler, PhD, executive director of the Science Directorate of the American Psychological Association, has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science “for his visionary contributions to science policy as it affects psychological science.”
Breckler, 51, is a social psychologist with more than 20 years of experience as a psychology professor and science administrator. As APA’s science leader since 2004, Breckler has supported bridging basic research in psychology to applied areas of psychology such as designing safety features in airline cockpits and setting up homes to help older people live independently longer.
At APA, he oversees programs that support training for mid-career scientists, science advocacy and research on climate change, behavioral genetics, testing on the Internet and research regulations.
Before coming to APA, Breckler directed the National Science Foundation’s social psychology and Science of Learning Centers programs, which bring together scientists of various disciplines to advance human learning from infancy to adulthood.
He is author and co-author of more than 60 published or conference papers on topics ranging from attitude development to jury functioning.
He becomes one of 486 AAAS fellows, including Norman A. Anderson, PhD, APA’s executive director.
“This well-deserved honor recognizes Steven Breckler’s career as a leader in the scientific community and as a psychologist of the first order,” Anderson said. “The American Psychological Association is gratified to see Dr. Breckler’s work acknowledged by his peers.” Breckler holds a doctoral degree in social psychology from Ohio State University. He did his undergraduate work at the University of California at San Diego.
New fellows will be inducted Feb. 14 during the 2009 AAAS annual meeting in Chicago.
The tradition of AAAS fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of fellow if nominated by the steering groups of the association’s 24 sections, or by any three fellows who are current AAAS members (so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee's institution), or by the AAAS chief executive officer.
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 148,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 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 human welfare.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more.