ODU's Debra Major Elected to Governing Council of American Psychological Association

Debra Major, professor of psychology at Old Dominion University, has been elected to the governing council of the American Psychological Association (APA) representing the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP).

She will serve a three year term beginning Jan. 1.

The APA is the largest professional organization for psychologists. Major was notified of her election in June by Kurt Kraiger, the SIOP president and a professor of psychology at Colorado State University. He called her election a "well-deserved honor."

"I am looking forward to serving on the APA Council and representing the interests of the SIOP membership," Major said. "I hope to have the opportunity to work on programs related to training the next generation of psychologists and initiatives supporting women's careers in psychology."

Major, who received her Ph.D. from Michigan State University in industrial and organizational psychology, does research on career development issues, including work-family conflict and barriers to advancement for women and minorities. One of her projects, which is supported by the National Science Foundation, is examining the reasons why women and minorities are underrepresented in the information technology job force.

She also recently has been exploring the application of industrial-organizational psychology to health- and medicine-related research. Since 2000 she has been an adjunct faculty member at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

Major serves on the editorial board of Journal of Organizational Behavior and Journal of Management and is the former editor of The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist.