The Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) is a learned society established in 1970 and which promotes research into the connections between

heredity Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

and

behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as wel ...

, both human and animal. Its members support education and training in behavior genetics; and publish '' Behavior Genetics'', a journal on the topic.

Aims

According to the association, its goals are "to promote scientific study of the interrelationship of genetic mechanisms and behavior, both human and animal; to encourage and aid the education and training of research workers in the field of behavior genetics; and to aid in the dissemination and interpretation to the general public of knowledge concerning the interrelationship of genetics and behavior, and its implications for health and human development and education." To further these goals, the society organizes an annual meeting and publishes the

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...

'' Behavior Genetics''. The annual meeting is held in a different location every year.

Membership

The society has three classes of members: Regular consisting of persons who teach or perform research related to behavioral genetics, Associate Members – students in good standing at a recognized college or university and retired members. Members receive a complimentary subscription to the society's journal as well as discounted registration rates for the association's annual meetings.

Governance

The society's business are conducted by a

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

, called the executive committee. The board consists of 9 members: president, president-elect, past-president, secretary, treasurer, an information officer, and three members-at-large (representing the general members, associate members, and members from outside North America). Members of the executive committee serve three-year terms. To ensure continuity, one member-at-large is elected every year.

Presidents

Presidents serve three-year terms. Upon election, they become president-elect and they serve as chair of the program committee for that year. After one year they become president and in the third year of their term they serve as past-president. The association's first president was Theodosius Dobzhansky. Other notable presidents include

Irving I. Gottesman Irving Isadore Gottesman (December 29, 1930 – June 29, 2016) was an American professor of psychology who devoted most of his career to the study of the genetics of schizophrenia. He wrote 17 books and more than 290 other publications, mostly ...

(1976),

John C. Loehlin John Clinton Loehlin (January 13, 1926 – August 9, 2020) was an American behavior geneticist, computer scientist, and psychologist. Loehlin served as president of the Behavior Genetics Association and of the Society of Multivariate Experimen ...

(1980), Steven G. Vandenberg (1984), Sandra Scarr (1985), Robert Plomin (1989), Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr. (1993), Glayde Whitney (1994), Nick Martin (1996–1997), and Dorret Boomsma (2008). Whitney's presidential address at the 1995 annual meeting in Richmond, Virginia, claiming genetic roots of the relationship between race and crime, caused a controversy resulting in several resignations from the association's executive committee. The association subsequently declared that "the Association has no official spokesman and that the presidential address does not represent official policy of the association". In addition, it was stated that "members are not encouraged to express their personal political and moral views" in presentations given at the meeting, which should be strictly scientific.

Awards

The association gives several yearly awards for accomplishments in the field of behavioral genetics. The Dobzhansky Award, named after its first president, is given for lifetime accomplishments and is chosen by the three most recent past presidents. The Fuller & Scott Award is an early career award for accomplishments by researchers that are within seven years of receiving their terminal degree. The award is named after former presidents John L. Fuller and

John Paul Scott John Paul Scott (January 3, 1927 – February 22, 1987) was an American criminal who is noted as the only escapee from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary known to have reached the San Francisco shore by swimming. He was recaptured almost immediately ...

and the award committee is the same as for the Dobzhansky Award. The Thompson and Rowe awards, are named after former president

W. R. Thompson W. may refer to: * SoHo (Australian TV channel) (previously W.), an Australian pay television channel * ''W.'' (film), a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of George W. Bush * "W.", the fifth track from Codeine's 1992 EP ''Bar ...

(1977), and

David C. Rowe David C. Rowe (27 September 1949 – 2 February 2003) was an American psychology professor known for his work studying genetic and environmental influences on adolescent onset behaviors such as delinquency and smoking.J. L. Rodgers, K. Jacobs ...

, a pioneer of Gene-Environment interaction research respectively. The Thompson is given for the oral presentation given by an associate (student) member, and judged as most outstanding during the annual meeting. The Rowe similarly recognises the most outstanding student poster presentation. The awards committee for these awards consists of the past president together with the three members-at-large of the executive committee. In addition, the society gives the annual Fulker Award for an outstanding paper published in ''Behavior Genetics''. This award is named after former president David Fulker (1983), who also was a previous editor-in-chief of the journal. The awards committee consists of the journal's editorial advisory board.

References

External links

* {{authority control Genetics organizations Organizations established in 1970 Biology societies Twin studies Behavioural genetics societies International scientific organizations