Helmuth Nyborg

Who is Helmuth Nyborg?

Helmuth Sørensen Nyborg is a former professor of developmental psychology at Aarhus University, Denmark and Olympic canoeist. His main research topic is the connection between hormones and intelligence. Among other things, he has worked on increasing the intelligence of girls with Turner's syndrome by giving them estrogen. His research has been widely criticized, and in 2007, after having been accused of scientific misconduct, he received a warning from Aarhus University for producing research of unacceptably low quality. In 2007 he retired.

Nyborg is a controversial figure among the Danish public for his research on topics such as the inheritance of intelligence and the relationship between sex and intelligence. His article in Personality and Individual Differences, in which he reports a 5-point average IQ difference in favour of men, has led to strong reactions in the Danish public and academia, for example in an editorial by the Danish newspaper Politiken.