Last updated on: 2/6/2012 | Author: ProCon.org

Peter Bearman, PhD Biography

Title:
Director of the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Center for the Social Sciences at Columbia University
Position:
Con to the question "Is Sexual Orientation Determined at Birth?"
Reasoning:

“We also consider and reject a speculative evolutionary theory that rests on observing birth-order effects on same-sex orientation. In contrast, our results support the hypothesis that less gendered socialization in early childhood and preadolescence shapes subsequent same-sex romantic preferences.”

Cowritten with Hannah Brückner, “Opposite-Sex Twins and Same-Sex Attraction,” American Journal of Sociology, 2002
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Jonathan Cole Professor of the Social Sciences, Columbia University, 2006-present
  • Director, Mellon Interdisciplinary Training Program in the Humanities and Social Sciences, 2006-present
  • Founding Codirector, Global Health Research Center in Central Asia, 2006-present
  • External Faculty, Nuffield College (Oxford, United Kingdom), 2005-present
  • Codirector, Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, 2001-present
  • Director, Paul F. Lazarsfeld Center for the Social Sciences, Columbia University, 1999-present
  • Founding Director, Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Columbia University, 2000-2008
  • Chair, Department of Statistics, Columbia University, 2007-2008
  • Chair, Department of Sociology, Columbia University, 2001-2005
  • Visiting Professor of Sociology, DISPOS, University of Genova (Genoa, Italy), 2002-2003
  • Professor of Sociology, Columbia University, 1998-2006
  • Adjunct Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNCCH), 1998-2001
  • Professor of Sociology, UNCCH, 1996-1997
  • Associate Professor of Sociology, UNCCH, 1991-1996
  • Assistant Professor of Sociology, UNCCH, 1986-1991
Education:
  • PhD, Sociology, Harvard University
  • MA, Sociology, Harvard University
  • BA, Sociology, Brown University, 1978
Other:
  • Recipient, NIH Pioneer Award to study autism, 2007
  • Elected Fellow of the American Association of the Arts and Sciences, 2007