Temple psychology professor wins $1M prize

PHILADELPHIA — A Temple University professor whose research figured in a landmark case outlawing the juvenile death penalty has received a million-dollar award to continue his work.

The Philadelphia university announced Wednesday that psychology professor Laurence Steinberg has won the inaugural Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize.

The award is given by the Zurich-based Jacobs Foundation, which funds research in youth development. The prize of 1 million Swiss francs is equivalent to $1 million.

Steinberg helped draft a brief for the American Psychological Association for a 2005 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the death penalty for crimes committed before age 18.

Steinberg and his colleagues argued that adolescents are fundamentally different from adults in ways shown by scientific studies of brain and behavioral development.