Diane Halpern, professor of psychology and director of the Berger Institute for Work, Family and Children, received the University of Iowa's spring 2006 Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor Award, established by the University of Iowa in 1977 to fund visiting professorships among eminent scholars and scientists for lectures at the University.
Halpern, past president of the American Psychological Association, served as a visiting professor at the University of Iowa for several days in April. Halpern's nomination, initiated by the University of Iowa's Women in Science and Engineering Program (WISE), resulted in 13 colleges and collegiate departments and units joining the University's call for her sponsorship.
Halpern's book, Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities (Third Edition), is used on the University's campus as baseline reading for some undergraduate classes wrestling with the nature-nurture debate. "The most inspiring aspect of Dr. Halpern's work," noted WISE director Chris Peterson Brus, "is her ability to take what she has learned through research and scholarship and apply it to practical, real-world problems."
Referencing recent comments by Harvard President Lawrence Summers about female competencies in science and math, Brus described Halpern's visit as a timely "light in the midst of the whirlwind" over the nature-nurture debate. "She has been looking at the basis for this debate for many years," Brus says, "and is widely published in this area of psychology."
Halpern was one of several guests featured on NPR's Talk of the Nation: Science Friday, last December, commenting on Gender Difference in Learning. Last spring, she was part of a panel discussion on Women in Science: Are They Being Held Back? at the Cooper Union in New York. The discussion featured leaders in the scientific community and major researchers who investigate the physiological and psychological factors that influence intellectual performance.
Brus also said that Halpern's wide appeal, as evidenced by a diverse group of co-sponsors for her visiting professorship at the University, is "exactly what we need to draw students, staff, and faculty from across our institution, into a discussion about issues facing all of us, both personally and institutionally."
Her expertise in subjects that cross disciplinary lines, Brus said, would make her visit to campus especially appealing to undergraduates still deciding on a major or an emphasis within their major.