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