university of california,
santa barbara

Dr. Brenda Major received her M.A from Miami University in 1975 and her Ph.D. in social psychology from Purdue University in 1978. From 1978 to 1995 she was a Professor in the Psychology Department at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she served as the Head of the Social Psychology Program from 1992 to 1995. She joined the Psychology Department at UCSB in 1995.

Dr. Major is the author of more than 100 articles and book chapters on coping, stigma, self-esteem, and intergroup relations. She also co-edited (with John Jost, Stanford University) the book, The Psychology of Legitimacy. A fellow of APA and APS, Dr. Major has been elected to the executive committees of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, has served as Associate Editor of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and serves on the editorial boards of numerous professional journals. Professor Major includes among her professional honors being awarded the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize in 1986 and 1988 (and Honorable Mention in 2002) from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, receiving the Distinguished Publication Award from the Association of Women in Psychology in 1985, and being named a California Distinguished Wellness Lecturer in 1997 for her research on coping with abortion.

For Dr. Major's vita, click here.

Contact Information

Phone: (805) 893-7238
Fax: (805) 893-4304
E-Mail: major@psych.ucsb.edu
Office: Psychology East (Building 251), Room 3813

Mailing Address

Department of Psychology
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660