Sources and Influences 

(P&R = Professor and Researcher) 

Daniel Kahneman 

• PhD Psychology University of California Berkley 
• P&R Hebrew University
• P&R Cambridge
• P&R Harvard 
• Father of Behavioral Economics (with Tversky) 
• 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics for Behavioral Economics 
• 2015 named by The Economists the 7th most influential economist in the world 

Amos Tversky 

• PhD Cognitive Psychology University of Michigan 
• P&R Hebrew University
• P&R Stanford 
• Father of Behavioral Economics (with Kahneman) 

Richard Thaler 

• PhD Economics University of Rochester 
• P&R Cornell
• P&R University of Chicago Booth School of Business 
• 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics for Behavioral Economics 

Abraham Maslow 

• MA Behavioral Psychology University of Wisconsin 
• P&R Columbia 
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 

• PhD Psychology University of Chicago 
• P&R University of Chicago
• P&R Claremont Graduate University 
• Flow State 

Anders Ericsson 

• PhD University of Stockholm 
• P&R Florida State University 
• Deliberate Practice 
• Theory of Skilled Memory 
• Acquisition of expert performance 

Martin Seligman 

• PhD Psychology University of Pennsylvania 
• P&R University of Pennsylvania 
• Father of Positive Psychology 

Christopher Peterson

• PhD University of Colorado
• P&R University of Michigan
• P&R Virginia Tech
• P&R University of Pennsylvania
• Director of VIA Institute of Character
• Co-author of Character Strengths and Virtues with Martin Seligman

Angela Duckworth 

• BA Neurobiology Harvard 
• MSc Neuroscience Oxford  
• PhD Psychology University of Pennsylvania  
• Former McKinsey consultant 
• 2013 MacArthur Genius Award 
• P&R University of Pennsylvania 
• Founder of Character Lab 
• Co-director of Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative 
• Co-director of Wharton People Analytics 
• Co-host of No Stupid Questions podcast 

Katy Milkman 

• BA Operations Research and Financial Engineering Princeton
• PhD joint program in Computer Science and Business Harvard 
• P&R University of Pennsylvania Medical School 
• P&R Wharton 
• Host of Choiceology podcast 

Aaron Beck 

• P&R University of Pennsylvania  
• Father of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) 

George Kelly

• BA Physics and Mathematics Park College
• MA Sociology University of Kansas
• PhD Psychology State University of Iowa 
• P&R Ohio State 
• Personal Construct Theory 

Albert Bandura

• MA, PhD University of Iowa
• P&R Stanford
• Social Cognitive Theory
• Self-Efficacy Theory

Amy Cuddy 

• PhD Psychology Princeton 
• P&R: Rutgers 
• P&R Kellogg School of Management
• P&R Harvard Business School 

Brian Little 

• PhD Psychology University of California at Berkley 
• P&R Harvard
• P&R Oxford
• P&R Cambridge 

Daniel Pink 

• BA Northwestern (Phi Beta Kappa) 
• JD Yale Law School 
• Speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore 
• prolific and prominent business author 

Michael Lewis 

• BA Princeton 
• MA London School of Economics 
• Trader at Salomon Brothers 
• prolific and prominent behavioral science author 
• Host of Against the Rules podcast 

Stephen Dubner 

• MFA Writing Columbia 
• prolific and prominent behavioral science author 
• Host of Freakonomics podcast 
• Co-host of No Stupid Questions podcast 

Steven Pinker 

• PhD Philosophy Harvard 
• P&R MIT 
• P&R Harvard
• P&R Stanford 
• Computational theory of the mind  

Carol Dweck 

• PhD Psychology Yale 
• P&R Columbia
• P&R Harvard
• P&R Stanford 
• Growth Mindset 

Andrew Huberman 

• PhD Neuroscience University of California Davis 
• P&R Stanford Medical School 

David Yeager 

• PhD Developmental Psychology Stanford 
• P&R University of Texas Austin 
• The “wise feedback paper” 

Peter Attia 

• BS Mechanical Engineering Queen’s University
• MD Stanford School of Medicine
• Surgery Resident Johns Hopkins
• Surgical Fellow National Institutes of Health
• Consultant McKinsey and Company
• Private practice focused on applied science of longevity and optimal performance 

Barbara Oakley 

• BA Electrical Engineering 
• MA Computer Engineering 
• PhD Systems Engineering 
• P&R Oakland University
• P&R McMaster University 
• Creator of Learn How to Learn – the most popular MOOC, with 2,286,800 students 

Amy Edmondson  

• PhD Organizational Behavior Harvard 
• P&R Harvard Business School 
• Identified Psychological Safety as key to productive workplace 

Chris Voss

• FBI Chief International Hostage Negotiator

• FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit 24 years 
• Lecturer Harvard Law School 
• Lecturer Georgetown University School of Business 
• Lecturer University of Southern California School of Business 

Julia Dhar 

• MA Behavioral Economics Harvard 
• Managing Director and Partner Boston Consulting Group 
• Co-founder BCG Behavioral Economics Initiative 
• 3x Champion World Schools Debate  

Liane Young  

• PhD Harvard 
• Postdoc MIT Brain Science lab 
• P&R Boston College 

Alison Wood Brooks 

• BA Princeton 
• PhD Wharton 
• P&R Harvard Business School 
• 2021 Best 40-Under-40 professor 
• Creator of most popular elective at HBS  

Deborah Tannen 

• MA Linguistics University of California Berkley 
• PhD Linguistics University of California Berkley 
• P&R Princeton 

Amishi Jha 

• PhD Psychology University of California Davis 
• postdoc Neuroimaging Duke 
• P&R University of Pennsylvania Center for Cognitive Neuroscience 
• P&R University of Miami 

Sian Beilock

• PhD Psychology Michigan State 
• P&R University of Chicago 
• Executive Vice Provost University of Chicago 
• President Barnard College at Columbia University 

Todd Kashdan 

• MA Psychology University of Buffalo 
• PhD Psychology University of Buffalo
• P&R George Mason University 

Daniel Gilbert 

• PhD Psychology Princeton 
• P&R University of Texas Austin 
• P&R Harvard 
• Affective Forecasting and Temporal Distancing 

John A. List 

• PhD Economics University of Wyoming 
• Senior Economist, President’s Council of Economic Advisers 
• Ranked 9th most influential economist in the world by RePEc 
• Pioneered field experimentation in economics 
• Chief Economist at Uber 
• Chief Economist at Lyft 
• P&R University of Chicago 
• author of The Voltage Effect 

Scott Barry Kaufman 

• MA Philosophy Cambridge 
• PhD Cognitive Psychology Yale 
• P&R Columbia
• P&R New York University
• P&R University of Pennsylvania 
• Host of The Psychology Podcast 

Ethan Kross 

• PhD Columbia 
• P&R University of Michigan 

Milton Friedman 

• MA Economics University of Chicago 
• PhD Economics Columbia 
• 1976 Noble Prize in Economics 

Roy Baumeister 

• MA Psychology Duke 
• PhD Psychology Princeton 
• P&R Case Western
• P&R Florida State
• P&R University of Queensland 

Dan Ariely 

• PhD Cognitive Psychology Tel Aviv University 
• PhD Business Administration University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
• P&R MIT
• P&R Duke 

Ayelet Fishbach 

• BA, MA, PhD Psychology (magna cum laude) Tel Aviv University 
• P&R University of Chicago Booth School 

Paul J. Zak

• PhD Economics University of Pennsylvania 
• P&R Claremont Graduate University 

Kelly McGonigal 

• MA Mass Communications Boston University
• PhD Psychology Stanford 
• Lecturer & Researcher Stanford 

Judson Brewer 

• BA Chemistry Princeton University 
• MD, PhD Washington University School of Medicine 
• Residency in Psychiatry Yale School of Medicine 
• P&R Brown University School of Medicine 
• Director Brown University Mindfulness Center 

Todd Kashdan 

• BA Cornell University 
• MA, PhD University of Buffalo 
• P&R George Mason University 

Robert Cialdini

• PhD University of North Carolina
• Postdoc Columbia University
• P&R University of Arizona
• Visiting Scholar Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Member National Academy of Sciences
• The psychology of persuasion

Adam Smith 

• Father of Economics 

William James 

• Father of American psychology 

Carl Jung 

• Founder of Analytical Psychology 

Alfred Adler 

• Austrian Psychiatrist – humans are primarily and ultimately motivated by the drive for power 

Sigmund Freud 

• Austrian Psychiatrist – humans are primarily and ultimately motivated by the drive for pleasure 

Viktor Frankl 

• Austrian Psychiatrist – humans are primarily and ultimately motivated by the drive for purpose