Gregory Herek

Gregory Herek is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. He received his Ph.D. in social psychology from UC Davis in 1983 and was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. Before returning to UC Davis, where he served first as a research psychologist and later as a tenured professor until his retirement in 2016, he held faculty appointments at Yale University and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Herek has served on the editorial boards of journals including Basic and Applied Social Psychology, The Journal of Social Issues, Sexuality Research and Social Policy, Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, The Journal of LGBT Health, The Journal of Sex Research, and The Journal of Homosexuality.

Herek is an internationally recognized authority on prejudice against sexual minorities, anti-gay violence, and AIDS-related stigma. He pioneered the scientific study of heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and the mental health consequences of stigma and hate crimes for their targets. His empirical research includes the first study demonstrating that hate crimes against lesbians and gay men are associated with greater psychological trauma than comparable non-bias-motivated crimes (Herek et al., 1999); the first national probability sample documenting hate crime victimization prevalence among U.S. gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults (Herek et al., 2009); and the first published studies using national probability samples to assess heterosexuals' attitudes toward bisexuals (Herek, 2002) and transgender people (Herek, 2012). He has authored more than 100 scholarly papers and edited seven volumes, including Hate Crimes: Confronting Violence Against Lesbians and Gay Men (1992), AIDS, Identity, and Community: HIV and Lesbians and Gay Men (1995), Out in Force: Sexual Orientation and the Military (1996), and Stigma and Sexual Orientation: Understanding Prejudice Against Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexuals (1998). A 2010 study ranked him in the top 5% of North American social/personality psychologists for cumulative research impact, with 53 papers cited more than 200 times and 24 more than 500 times per Google Scholar. Herek provided expert testimony in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, testified before congressional committees, participated in President Clinton's 1997 White House Conference on Hate Crimes, and assisted the American Psychological Association with more than 20 amicus briefs, including one cited in Obergefell v. Hodges. He chaired the APA Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concerns, served on APA task forces on heterosexist bias and AIDS, co-chaired the Scientific Review Committee for the Wayne F. Placek Award (1995-2007), and co-authored the 2011 Institute of Medicine report The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People. His honors include the 2006 Kurt Lewin Memorial Award from APA Division 9, the 1996 APA Early Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest, APA Division 44's Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Lesbian and Gay Psychology award (1989 and 1999), the 2010 UC Davis Academic Senate Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award, the 2010 California Psychological Association Distinguished Humanitarian Contribution Award, and fellowships in the American Psychological Association and Association for Psychological Science.

Professional Email: gmherek@ucdavis.edu