Alan Kraut-Jane Steinberg Family Fund Showcases Public Benefit of Psychological Science

APS receives $100,000 gift to support convention programming.

The Association for Psychological Science (APS) is excited to share that the Alan Kraut-Jane Steinberg Family Fund has donated $100,000 to support an APS Annual Convention plenary session showcasing how psychological science contributes to the public good. 

“We appreciate the continued commitment to psychological science from Alan and Jane,” said APS President Wendy Wood, PhD. “This gift will help APS highlight the many ways that psychological science contributes to human well-being and the resolution of significant problems facing individuals, communities, and organizations around the world.”

Alan Kraut, PhD, and Jane Steinberg, PhD, are psychological scientists who have contributed to the field significantly over the past four decades. Prior to retirement, Kraut was the founding executive director of APS and Steinberg held senior positions within the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health. Kraut and Steinberg are APS Fellows and Lifetime Members.

The gift enables APS to organize Psychological Science and Society: A Plenary Session at the APS Annual Convention for years to come. The first program will be held during the 2024 APS Annual Convention in San Francisco, California, next May. The plenary will feature an invited speaker or speakers who will highlight the use of psychological science in the public sphere. Topics might include the use of psychological science in improving public policy, education, business, information technology, the environment, or health. The program might also explore successful widespread dissemination efforts that improve public awareness of high-quality psychological science. The plenary may also shine light on psychological research that has been strengthened through collaborations with scientists from other disciplines or with members of the public to better inform the nature and methods of research questions and approaches.

Steinberg said, “Alan and I hope this gift will allow psychology’s contributions to the public to be fully recognized and implemented in daily life, clinical practice, and public policy.”

“One of my favorite talks during my time at APS was Psychological Science is Important,” said Kraut. “Jane and I know that this ongoing series will give example after example of how that continues to be true — that it is psychological science writ large that is core to what we as humanity need to move forward. To move forward as individuals, as family members … in our communities, our nations, and our world.”

“Alan and Jane are the embodiment of champions for psychological science,” said APS Chief Executive Officer Robert Gropp, PhD. “The science and APS are what they are today because of their leadership and advocacy.”

To learn more about APS, the 2024 Annual Convention, or how you can help advance the science of psychology, please visit www.psychologicalscience.org.