Del Thiessen


Delbert Duane Thiessen is an American psychology professor emeritus whose research focused on evolutionary mechanisms of reproduction and social communication. Del Wolf Thiessen, Ph.D., Born: August 13, 1932
Professor Emeritus Psychology at University of Texas at Austin, Texas.
Academic Interests:
Theoretical Interests:
Thiessen studied at University of Denver and San Jose State University, completing his Ph.D. in biopsychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He then did research at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, California before taking a position at University of Texas at Austin. He is Professor of evolutionary psychology and member of the Institute of Neuroscience. He conducted research on the genetics of alcoholism at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, California. He is Fellow of the American Psychological Association and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. At the University of Texas he taught Comparative Psychology and investigated animal communication and human biology and behavior. He continues his investigations of human deviant behaviors, writes fiction and non-fiction, and publishes a weekly blog: www.darksideofthebrain.com. His hobbies include exploring history and literature, playing blues harmonica, and enjoying billiards.
Education and Professional History:
Thiessen published five books on behavior genetics and over 250 articles in animal and human behavior.
Publications include about 250 research publication, 200 conference presentations, and a number of books published individually and with a number of professional colleagues. Books published include:
He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the American Psychological Society, the National Association of Scholars, Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Southwestern Comparative Psychological Association, the Society for the Study of Social Policies, International Society for Research on Aggression, the European Sociobiological Society, and the Behavior Genetics Association.
In 1967, at the University of Texas, Thiessen was awarded a five-year Career Development from National Institutes of Mental Health to study gene substitutions on behavior and physiology of mice. Over the years he has held appointments as research article reviewer, editor, or membership in a number of professional organizations, including
In 1969 he received a three-year award by the Russell Sage Foundation to help develop behavior genetic studies at the Center for Behavior Genetics and Evolution at the University of Texas. Beginning in 1970 and lasting approximately 25 years, Thiessen received continuing research support from NIMH to conduct behavior genetic and pheromone research on mice and gerbils. During this period he also served for eight years on NIMH research study committees evaluating research applications for psychological research from NIMH. In 1975 he was awarded research funds from the University Research Institute at the Univ. Texas at Austin. Thiessen is currently Fellow of the American Psychological Association and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His first novel, The Devil's Song, reached the 2011 semi-finals in competition at Amazon.com. A recent publication is Slip-ups and the Dangerous Mind: Seeing Through and Living Beyond the Psychopath.

Activities

In 1994 he was one of 52 signatories on "Mainstream Science on Intelligence," an editorial written by Linda Gottfredson and published in the Wall Street Journal, which declared the consensus of the signing scholars on issues related to intelligence research following the publication of the book The Bell Curve.
Additional Activities: