Mar 15, 2024
Ten years after winning his first national textbook award, Dr. Gregory J. Privitera, professor of psychology at St. Bonaventure University, has marked the anniversary by winning two more.
The first edition of his new textbook “Essentials of Psychology” has been awarded the 2024 Most Promising New Textbook Award by the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA). Co-authored with Dr. Saul Kassin of John Jay College and Dr. Krisstal Clayton of the University of North Texas, the book was cited for excellence in first-edition textbooks and learning material.
In addition, the new fourth edition of Privitera’s bestselling textbook “Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences” has won TAA’s 2024 Textbook Excellence Award, or “Texty.” The prestigious Texty recognizes excellence in current textbooks and learning materials across four areas: pedagogy, content/scholarship, writing, and appearance/design.
Both textbooks are published by Sage, a global publisher of books, journals and library resources. Privitera was the first Sage author to earn a TAA national award and is now the first Sage author to earn two national awards for two different textbooks in the same year. He won his first TAA national textbook award in 2014, when his book “Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences” won the Most Promising New Textbook Award.
The Text and Academic Authors Association is a national, nonprofit membership association dedicated solely to assisting textbook and academic authors.
“It is quite an honor to be a nationally awarded textbook author in three different major markets — statistics, research methods, and introductory psychology,” Privitera said. “I’m truly grateful for my brilliant editorial teams at Sage. Their hard work and support in producing my textbook franchise is truly extraordinary. A lot of work goes into writing each textbook, and it is sincerely humbling to be recognized for that hard work.”
Privitera’s books span diverse topics in the data, health and behavioral sciences space. His texts include an introductory psychology text, two best-selling statistics texts (a third is being written), two research methods texts, and multiple other texts bridging knowledge creation across health and health care, including a new text, “Toward a Healthy Society,” to be published by Cambridge University Press. In addition, he has authored more than three dozen peer-reviewed papers published with more than 30 St. Bonaventure student authors aimed at advancing the understanding of health and well-being to inform health care policy.
Praised for their conversational, student-friendly writing style, Privitera’s books have been adopted at more than 300 institutions worldwide including Harvard, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins and Columbia, as well as at his home institution, St. Bonaventure.
Dr. David Hilmey, St. Bonaventure provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, said Privitera’s latest awards further underscore the value of his scholarship and teaching.
“Greg’s awards are national recognition of what our St. Bonaventure students have known for years, that Dr. Privitera is an outstanding instructor who brings clarity, enthusiasm, and excellence to the classroom,” Hilmey said. “Students across the country benefit from his commitment to teaching excellence through his texts. These awards are wonderful recognition of his work and the impact he has had on countless students in psychology.”
Privitera’s St. Bonaventure faculty colleagues have honored him with three awards of excellence: the Award for Professional Excellence in Teaching, the Award for Professional Excellence in Research and Publication, and the Junior Faculty Award. His research has earned recognition by the American Psychological Association and in media and press outlets including Time magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and O, The Oprah Magazine.
Privitera will be presented the 2024 national textbook awards during a virtual awards ceremony ahead of TAA’s 36th Annual Textbook and Academic Authoring Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 21.
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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).