Camilla Benbow

Camilla Persson Benbow is an American educational psychologist and a university professor. She studies the education of intellectually gifted students.

Biography

Camilla Benbow is the Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. She is an educational psychologist who has focused on education of intellectually gifted young people.^[1] Benbow is co-director (with David Lubinski) of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), a longitudinal study that examines the development of over 5,000 individuals over their life-spans.^[2] Her interests focus on identifying education that is most effective to developing intellectual talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.^[3]

Benbow received her undergraduate and graduate education at Johns Hopkins University, including the Ed.D., with distinction, in 1981. She became associate research scientist at Johns Hopkins University in 1981. In 1986, Iowa State University appointed her Associate Professor of Psychology promoting her rapidly to full professor in 1990, department chair in 1992, and Distinguished Professor in 1995. She was appointed Interim Dean of Education at Iowa State in 1996. At Iowa State she also directed the pre-collegiate programs for talented and gifted students.^[3]

Benbow is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society, has received a distinguished scholar award from the National Association for Gifted Children, and in 2004 the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Mensa Education and Research Foundation.^[1][4][5] In May 2006, she was appointed to the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. She has also served on the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation.^[3]

Benbow has interpreted some of her study data to indicate that there are innate differences between young men and women in their aptitude for higher mathematics and fields of endeavor that depend on mathematics, such as engineering and physical sciences.^[6][7] These positions have been met with some controversy from women's groups.^[8]

Publications

Benbow has edited, authored or co-authored 2 books, several book chapters, reviews and over 100 articles in academic journals.^[9]

Books

• Benbow, C. P., & Lubinski, D. (Eds.). (1996). Intellectual talent: Psychometric and social issues. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Benbow, C. P., & Stanley, J. C. (Eds.). (1983). Academic precocity: Aspects of its development. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Selected articles

• Lubinski, D.; Benbow, C. P.; Kell, H. J. (2014). "Life Paths and Accomplishments of Mathematically Precocious Males and Females Four Decades Later" (PDF). Psychological Science. 25 (12): 2217–2232. doi:10.1177/0956797614551371. ISSN 0956-7976.

References

1. "Archived: Biography of Dr. Camilla Persson Benbow". ed.gov. U.S Department of Education. 19 June 2006. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
2. "Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth". https://my.vanderbilt.edu. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved October 17, 2015. External link in |newspaper= (help)
3. "Camilla Persson Benbow: Biography". https://my.vanderbilt.edu. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved October 17, 2015. External link in |newspaper= (help)
4. Brasher, Joan (July 17, 2015). "Lubinski honored with Mensa Lifetime Achievement Award". news.vanderbilt.edu. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved October 17, 2015. He also thanked SMPY co-director Camilla P. Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College. Dean Benbow received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
5. "Camilla Persson Benbow: Honors". https://my.vanderbilt.edu. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved October 17, 2015. External link in |newspaper= (help)
6. Benbow, C. P.; Stanley, J. C. (1982). "Consequences in High School and College of Sex Differences in Mathematical Reasoning Ability: A Longitudinal Perspective". American Educational Research Journal. 19 (4): 598–622. doi:10.3102/00028312019004598. ISSN 0002-8312.
7. Halpern, Diane F.; Benbow, Camilla P.; Geary, David C.; Gur, Ruben C.; Hyde, Janet Shibley; Gernsbacher, Morton Ann (2007). "The Science of Sex Differences in Science and Mathematics". Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 8 (1): 1–51. doi:10.1111/j.1529-1006.2007.00032.x. ISSN 1529-1006.
8. Background for the AWM petition concerning the inclusion of Dr. Camilla Benbow on the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. -Approved by the Executive Committee of AWM. Association of Women in Mathematics, 2006.
9. "Camilla Benbow: Publications". https://my.vanderbilt.edu. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved October 17, 2015. External link in |newspaper= (help)