Dr. Julia Heiman served as the Kinsey Institute’s sixth director from 2004-2013. Her tenure saw significant growth in research and the collections.Dr. Heiman expanded the research component of the Institute, looking at sexual satisfaction & relationship happiness in midlife couples, sexual violence, condom use errors and effective condom fit, stress responses in women with postpartum depression, arousal response in bisexual men, infidelity in heterosexual couples, and the effects of hormonal contraceptives on women’s sexual experience.
Originally established with materials from her tenure as Kinsey Institute Director, the Julia Heiman Archive has been expanded with her most recent donation reflecting her entire career as a sexologist and clinical psychologist before and after her time as the director of the Institute. New items in the collection focus on her influential publication on women’s sexual satisfaction, Becoming Orgasmic, including all editions and translations, as well as a video production of the book. A large collection of correspondence from her readers forms an interactive experience as their questions and comments provide additional data points for future scholars, possibly shaping more research in this area.
Dr. Heiman has also added to the collection many of her numerous and prestigious awards including the Masters & Johnson award from the Society for Sex Therapy & Research (STAR) for extraordinary lifetime contributions to clinical sexuality, the Kinsey Award from the Midcontinent Region of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS) for contributions to the understanding of female sexual arousal and dysfunction, and the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality.
