• IUB Newsroom »
• Search committee formed to name new director of The Kinsey Institute at IU

Search committee formed to name new director of The Kinsey Institute at IU

• Sept. 26, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A search committee has been formed to identify finalists for the position of director of Indiana University's famed Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.

The internationally recognized institute is currently led by Julia Heiman, who has been director since 2004. After two terms, Heiman is stepping down from the director’s position to return to her faculty position in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at IU Bloomington. The search committee is launching an international search for the institute's next leader.

"The Kinsey Institute is one of IU Bloomington's most well-known research centers, with a long and storied history of providing insight to the research community and the world," said Lauren Robel, provost of IU Bloomington and executive vice president. "Julia Heiman has been an outstanding advocate for Kinsey over the last 10 years, and I am confident that the search committee will identify a new director who will further the institute's extraordinary legacy."

The Kinsey Institute was established in 1947 by the late Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey, a professor of zoology at IU Bloomington. Since then, The Kinsey Institute, which is supported by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research at IU Bloomington, has been a trusted source for research and information regarding critical research issues in sex, gender and reproduction. The Kinsey Institute collections encompass print materials, film and video, fine art, artifacts, photography and data from six continents. Its holdings span more than 2,000 years of human history. In 2004, the institute’s founder was the subject of the Hollywood film, "Kinsey."

The interdisciplinary research questions pursued at The Kinsey Institute are related to the areas of psychology, neuroscience, biology, gender studies, public health, sociology, behavioral sciences and other fields -- a research portfolio that reflects the complexities of studying sexual interests, sexual behaviors and sexual health.

"The Office of the Vice Provost for Research is committed to supporting sex research conducted at The Kinsey Institute," said Sarita Soni, the vice provost for research at IU Bloomington. "The institute's interdisciplinary research has great potential to draw faculty and students from across the campus, the university and the world. I am certain we will find a new leader who will further develop the Kinsey Institute's research portfolio."

The members of the search committee are:

• Chair: Brad Wheeler, vice president for information technology and CIO, professor of information systems, IU Kelley School of Business
• Ellen Ketterson, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences
• Lynn Luckow, president and CEO, LikeMinded, San Francisco
• Michael Reece, associate dean, School of Public Health-Bloomington
• Deborah Widiss, IU Maurer School of Law
• Sarah Wiehe, IU School of Medicine
• Martin Weinberg, Department of Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences
• Brian O’Donnell, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences
• Stephanie Sanders, The Kinsey Institute and the Department of Gender Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences
• Ruth Stone, Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, College of Arts and Sciences

More information about the director search, including the full position posting, is available on the Kinsey Institute director search page.