Socially Responsible

Twins Expert Nancy L. Segal Wins Award

March 10, 2008

By Mimi Ko Cruz

Twins research expert Nancy L. Segal, professor of psychology, has been selected to receive the Social Responsibility Award from the Western Psychological Association.

She will be recognized in April during the WPA's 88th Annual Convention in Irvine. As part of the honor, Segal will be invited to deliver a talk on her research at the 2009 convention in Portland.

Segal was chosen because of “her important contributions to twins research,” said Chris Cozby, WPA’s executive officer. “Her research has contributed to a better understanding of psychological processes.”

The award is given annually to a WPA member for work that facilitates peace, freedom, social justice and/or preservation of the planet's natural environment. The work may be basic psychological science with extraordinarily important implications or involve direct application of methods, concepts and/or principles based on the science of psychology.

Recipient of the university's 2004-05 Outstanding Professor Award, Segal is author of “Indivisible by Two: Lives of Extraordinary Twins” (2005) and “Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us About Human Behavior” (1999).

She joined the Cal State Fullerton faculty in 1991 as an associate professor and established the Twin Studies Center that year. She was promoted to full professor in 1994.

Because of her groundbreaking work, Segal, a twin herself, has made hundreds of media appearances in the past two decades. Her research has involved studying identical, fraternal and virtual twins in order to examine a range of human behavioral and physical traits, including intelligence, social relationships, athleticism and sexuality.