Lee Willerman was an American psychologist

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

 known for his work on twin studies.

He was born and grew up in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. Willerman received BA and MA degrees from Roosevelt University

Roosevelt University

Roosevelt University is a coeducational, private university with campuses in Chicago, Illinois and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university is named in honor of both former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university's curriculum is based on...

 in 1961 and 1964 respectively, and his Ph.D. from Wayne State University

Wayne State University

Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...

 in 1967. After a three-year stint at the National Institutes of Health

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

, Willerman completed a post-doctoral year at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 in the Department of Human Genetics. In 1971 he took a position at the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

, where he remained until his death.

In 1974, Willerman joined the American Eugenics Society

American Eugenics Society

The American Eugenics Society was a society established in 1922 to promote eugenics in the United States.It was the result of the Second International Conference on Eugenics . The founders included Madison Grant, Harry H. Laughlin, Irving Fisher, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and Henry Crampton...

, at a time when this society had already moved away from eugenics

Eugenics

Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...

 and towards the study of medical genetics

Medical genetics

Medical genetics is the specialty of medicine that involves the diagnosis and management of hereditary disorders. Medical genetics differs from Human genetics in that human genetics is a field of scientific research that may or may not apply to medicine, but medical genetics refers to the...

, behavior genetics

Behavioural genetics

Quantitative human behavioural genetics is a specialisation in the biological field of behaviour genetics that studies the role of genetics in human behaviour employing quantitative-genetic methods. The field is an overlap of quantitative genetics and psychology...

, and social biology

Sociobiology

Sociobiology is a field of scientific study which is based on the assumption that social behavior has resulted from evolution and attempts to explain and examine social behavior within that context. Often considered a branch of biology and sociology, it also draws from ethology, anthropology,...

. He also was an active member of the Behavior Genetics Association

Behavior Genetics Association

The Behavior Genetics Association is a learned society that was established in 1970 and promotes research into the connection between heredity and behavior.- Aims :...

 and his work over the remainder of his life involved behavior genetics. His first study examined IQ and birth weight differences between identical twins, finding that the twin who had been heavier at birth tended to be higher in IQ.
Willerman worked with Joseph M. Horn

Joseph M. Horn

Joseph M. Horn is an American psychology professor known for his work on adoption studies.Horn received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and currently teaches at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include intelligence and personality and their development,...

 and John C. Loehlin

John C. Loehlin

John Clinton Loehlin is an American behavior geneticist and psychology and computer science professor emeritus. Loehlin has served as president of the Behavior Genetics Association and of the Society for Multivariate Experimental Psychology....

 on a major study of adoptive families, the Texas Adoption Project. Much of his work involved psychometrics

Psychometrics

Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational measurement...

 and research into neuroanatomical predictors of intelligence.

In 1994 he was one of 52 signatories on "Mainstream Science on Intelligence

Mainstream Science on Intelligence

Mainstream Science on Intelligence was a public statement issued by a group of academic researchers in fields allied to intelligence testing that claimed to present those findings widely accepted in the expert community...

," an editorial written by Linda Gottfredson

Linda Gottfredson

Linda Susanne Gottfredson is a professor of educational psychology at the University of Delaware and co-director of the Delaware-Johns Hopkins Project for the Study of Intelligence and Society. Gottfredson's work has been influential in shaping U.S...

 and published in the Wall Street Journal, which declared the consensus of the signing scholars on issues related to race and intelligence

Race and intelligence

The connection between race and intelligence has been a subject of debate in both popular science and academic research since the inception of intelligence testing in the early 20th century...

 following the publication of the book The Bell Curve

The Bell Curve

The Bell Curve is a best-selling and controversial 1994 book by the Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray...

.

External links

• Lee Willerman obituary via University of Texas at Austin