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Happiness, 1.03 (R) Guest speakers!

1.03 (R) Guest speakers!

Arthur Markman

Art Markman is the Annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas and Founding Director of the Program in the Human Dimensions of Organizations. He has written over 150 papers on topics including reasoning, decision making, and motivation. He also brings insights from cognitive science to a broader audience through his blogs at Psychology Today and Fast Company. Art is the author of several books including Smart Thinking and Smart Change. Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, with appointments in the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the department of Economics. As one of the foremost leaders in psychology and behavioral economics, Dr. Ariely has published his research in top economic, medical and psychology journals and is the author of Predictably Irrational (2008), The Upside of Irrationality (2010), and The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty (2012), three bestselling general audience books about research in behavioral economics. In addition, he is the founding member of The Center For Advanced Hindsight. More information about Dan can be found at: www.danariely.com Ed Diener

Ed Diener, Ph.D., is Alumni Distinguished Professor of Psychology (Emeritus). Professor Diener's research focuses on several areas: the measurement of subjective well-being; temperament and personality influences on SWB; theories of well-being; demographics and well-being (e.g., income, sex, and age); and most recently his work has emphasized cultural influences on subjective well-being. Ed Diener has edited three recent books on SWB: Well-being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology (with Kahneman and Schwarz), Advances in Quality of Life Studies (with Don Rahtz), and Culture and Subjective Well-Being (with Eunkook Suh). James W. Pennebaker

James W. Pennebaker is the Regents Centennial Professor of Psychology. He and his students are exploring natural language use, group dynamics, and personality in educational and other real world settings. His earlier work on expressive writing found that physical health and work performance can improve by simple writing and/or talking exercises. His cross-disciplinary research is related to linguistics, clinical and cognitive psychology, communications, medicine, and computer science. Author or editor of 10 books and over 300 articles, Pennebaker has received numerous awards and honors. His most recent book is The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words Say About Us (NY: Bloomsbury). Kenneth Pargament

Kenneth Pargament is a Ph. D. in clinical psychology and professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University, and adjunct professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the Baylor College of Medicine. He served as Distinguished Scholar at the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center. Dr. Pargament has been a leading figure in the movement toward an integrated biopsychosociospiritual approach to healthcare. He has published over 275 articles on religion and health, and authored The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice and Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred. See More Kristin Neff

Kristin Neff is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion over a decade ago. In addition to writing numerous academic articles and book chapters on the topic, she is author of the book "Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself," released by William Morrow, and the 6 CD audio set called “Self-Compassion Step by Step,” released by Sounds True. In conjunction with her colleague Dr. Chris Germer, she has developed an empirically supported eight-week training program called Mindful Self-Compassion, and offers workshops on self-compassion worldwide. Kristin is also featured in the bestselling book and award-winning documentary The Horse Boy, which chronicles her family's journey to Mongolia where they trekked on horseback to find healing for her autistic son. Kristina Durante

Kristina Durante is an associate professor in the Department of Marketing at Rutgers Business School. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Texas, Austin, a M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Mass Communication from Boston University. Her research areas include: (1) women's consumer choice and luxury spending; (2) family spending decisions, and (3) hormones and consumer behavior. The thread that unifies her research program is an evolutionary theoretical approach. Her work was featured in a TEDx talk and has been published in several top tier academic journals including Psychological Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin and Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Marshall Goldsmith

Marshall Goldsmith is a world-renowned business educator and coach. He has been recognized as one of the top ten Most Influential Management Thinkers in the world – and the highest rated executive coach – at the 2011 and 2013 biennial Thinkers50 Conferences in London. He was also recognized as the Thinkers50 Most Influential Leadership Thinker in the World (2011). His books have sold over two million copies worldwide, have been translated into thirty languages and become bestsellers in twelve countries. Melanie Rudd

Dr. Rudd is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. She has a PhD in Marketing from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in Business Administration (with a specialization in Marketing) from the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Dr. Rudd's research interests include the study of temporal perceptions, affect (mood and emotions), well-being, prosocial behaviors, and goal pursuit. Her research has appeared in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Psychological Science, and the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Michael I. Norton

Michael I. Norton is a Professor at the Harvard Business School. He is the co-author – with Elizabeth Dunn – of the book, Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending. In 2012, he was selected for Wired Magazine's Smart List as one of “50 People Who Will Change the World” and his TEDx talk, How to Buy Happiness, has been viewed more than 2.5 million times. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont University. He is the founder and co-director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC).

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is one of the pioneers of the scientific study of happiness. He discovered that people find genuine satisfaction during a state of consciousness called Flow. In this state they are completely absorbed in an activity, especially an activity which involves their creative abilities. During this “optimal experience” they feel “strong, alert, in effortless control, unselfconscious, and at the peak of their abilities.” He insists that happiness does not simply happen. It must be prepared for and cultivated by each person, by setting challenges that are neither too demanding nor too simple for ones abilities. Nipun Mehta

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace (formerly CharityFocus), an incubator of projects that works at the intersection of volunteerism, technology and gift-economy. What started as an experiment with four friends in the Silicon Valley has now grown to a global ecosystem of over 400,000 members that has delivered millions of dollars in service for free. Nipun has received many awards, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service, the President's Volunteer Service Award and Wavy Gravy's Humanitarian award. He is routinely invited to share his message of "giftivism" to wide ranging audiences, from inner city youth in Memphis to academics in London to international dignitaries at the United Nations; his speech at UPenn commencement in May 2012 was read by millions. He serves on the advisory boards of the Seva Foundation, the Dalai Lama Foundation, and Greater Good Science Center. See More Phillip R. Shaver

Phillip R. Shaver, PhD, is Distinguished Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of California, Davis, where he arrived in 1992 after serving on the faculties of Columbia University, New York University, the University of Denver, and SUNY at Buffalo. He has received grants from NSF, NIMH, and numerous foundations and has published over 300 scholarly articles and book chapters. He has coauthored and co-edited numerous books including In Search of Intimacy; Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes; Attachment in Adulthood; Handbook of Attachment; Prosocial Motives, Emotions, and Behavior; The Social Psychology of Morality: Exploring the Causes of Good and Evil; and Mechanisms of Social Connection: From Brain to Group. His research deals with attachment theory, close relationships, human emotions, and personality development. See More Robert "Reb" Rebele Robert "Reb" Rebele is a consultant and educator with the University of Pennsylvania and the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), as well as a range of corporate, technology, non-profit, and educational organizations. Reb frequently collaborates with Dr. Adam Grant of the Wharton School on research and consulting projects related to employee motivation, reciprocity styles, and helping behaviors in the workplace. Reb earned his Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree in 2010 at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied work/life design and the relationship between writing and well-being. He continues to teach in the MAPP program as a guest lecturer, curriculum consultant, and assistant instructor. When he is not caught up in conversation with a student, professor, friend or colleague about some big idea, Reb can usually be found at home in Philadelphia with his wife, Amy, and their terrier mutt, Bugsy. Richard J. Davidson

Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., is a leading expert on the study of emotions and how they affect well-being. He is the Founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center, the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, and Director of the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Dr. Davidson received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard University in 1976 and joined UW-Madison in 1984. His groundbreaking research has earned him the recipient of numerous awards including the William James Fellow Award from the American Psychological Society. In 2000, he was the recipient of the most distinguished award for science given by the American Psychological Association - the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. In 2011, he was given the Paul D. MacLean Award for Outstanding Neuroscience Research in Psychosomatic Medicine. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences from 2011-2017, member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Mental Health for 2014-2016, and has contributed to the 2015 United Nation's World Happiness Report. Sonja Lyubomirsky

Sonja Lyubomirsky is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. Originally from Russia, she received her A.B., summa cum laude, from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology from Stanford University. Lyubomirsky currently teaches courses in social psychology and positive psychology and serves as graduate advisor. Her teaching and mentoring of students have been recognized with two Faculty of the Year awards and a Faculty Mentor of the Year award. Lyubomirsky's research – on the possibility of permanently increasing happiness — has been honored with Fellow status from three different scientific societies, a Science of Generosity grant, a John Templeton Foundation Grant, a Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, and (with Sheldon) a million-dollar grant from NIMH. Lyubomirsky's best-selling 2008 book, The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want (Penguin Press) has been published in 23 countries, and her recent book, The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, But Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy, But Does, is translated (or will be) in 16 countries. Her work has been written up in hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, and she has appeared in multiple TV shows, radio shows, and feature documentaries in North America, South America, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. She lives in Santa Monica, California, with her family. Srikumar S. Rao

Prof. Srikumar Rao helped thousands of executives and entrepreneurs all over the world discover deep meaning. His methods have enabled them to achieve quantum leaps in effectiveness. Graduates of his workshops have become more creative and more inspiring leaders. Above all, they have developed an inner serenity born of the knowledge that they will able to appropriately handle whatever comes their way, be it, a small wave, or a tsunami. They become resilient and bounce back nonchalantly from reverses that would floor most peers. Prof. Rao received his Ph.D in Marketing from the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University. He has a degree in physics from St. Stephen's college, Delhi University, and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He conceived the innovative course “Creativity and Personal Mastery”. Students found it so overwhelmingly powerful that it remains the only business school course in the world to have its own alumni association. Prof. Rao's work has been extensively covered in the media including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The London Times, The Independent Time, The Financial Times, Fortune, The Guardian, Forbes, Business Week, and dozens of other publications. You can find Prof. Rao's articles, interviews (Ted talk) and other details about his work by clicking on this link. If you'd like to know more about Prof. Rao, please click here, and feel free to register on Prof. Rao's blog, or to reach him at . Steven Tomlinson

Steven Tomlinson holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Stanford University. He taught finance, economics and entrepreneurship at The University of Texas McCombs's School of Business where his students awarded him several honors, including the prestigious Texas Excellence Teaching Award. He is an adjunct professor of pastoral ministry at the Theological Seminary of the Southwest. In addition to his teaching, Tomlinson is an accomplished actor and playwright. His one-man shows about business, ethics, and modern life have won numerous Austin theatre awards and have been produced off-Broadway and nationwide. He also coaches communication strategy for executives and managers at Wall Street, Fortune 500 and start-up firms. Sunaina K. Chugani

Sunaina K. Chugani is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Baruch College (CUNY) in New York City. Her research explores the intersection of hedonic adaptation, gratitude, materialism, and consumer happiness. She teaches Consumer Behavior at Baruch College and likes chatting about the "Power of Enough" and the relationship between consumption and well-being. In her free time, Sunaina volunteers for Infinite Love and ServiceSpace, both entirely volunteer-run non-profit organizations serving the community and fostering inner growth. She is also a student of 17th generation Sufi musician Ustad Ghulam Farid Nizami. Website: SunainaChugani.com Thomas Gilovich

Thomas Gilovich is the Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology at Cornell University and co-director of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision Research. He received his B.A. in Psychology in 1976 from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his PhD in Psychology in 1981 from Stanford University.

Dr. Gilovich specializes in the study of everyday judgment and reasoning. In addition to his articles in scientific journals, Dr. Gilovich is the author of How We Know What Isn't So (Free Press), Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes (Simon and Schuster, with Gary Belsky), and Social Psychology (W.W. Norton, with Dacher Keltner, Serena Chen, and Richard Nisbett), and the forthcoming The Wisest One in the Room (The Free Press, with Lee Ross). Dr. Gilovich is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.


1.03 (R) Guest speakers!

Arthur Markman

Art Markman is the Annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas and Founding Director of the Program in the Human Dimensions of Organizations. He has written over 150 papers on topics including reasoning, decision making, and motivation. He also brings insights from cognitive science to a broader audience through his blogs at Psychology Today and Fast Company. Art is the author of several books including Smart Thinking and Smart Change. Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, with appointments in the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the department of Economics. As one of the foremost leaders in psychology and behavioral economics, Dr. Ariely has published his research in top economic, medical and psychology journals and is the author of Predictably Irrational (2008), The Upside of Irrationality (2010), and The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty (2012), three bestselling general audience books about research in behavioral economics. In addition, he is the founding member of The Center For Advanced Hindsight. More information about Dan can be found at: www.danariely.com Ed Diener

Ed Diener, Ph.D., is Alumni Distinguished Professor of Psychology (Emeritus). Professor Diener's research focuses on several areas: the measurement of subjective well-being; temperament and personality influences on SWB; theories of well-being; demographics and well-being (e.g., income, sex, and age); and most recently his work has emphasized cultural influences on subjective well-being. Ed Diener has edited three recent books on SWB: Well-being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology (with Kahneman and Schwarz), Advances in Quality of Life Studies (with Don Rahtz), and Culture and Subjective Well-Being (with Eunkook Suh). James W. Pennebaker

James W. Pennebaker is the Regents Centennial Professor of Psychology. He and his students are exploring natural language use, group dynamics, and personality in educational and other real world settings. His earlier work on expressive writing found that physical health and work performance can improve by simple writing and/or talking exercises. His cross-disciplinary research is related to linguistics, clinical and cognitive psychology, communications, medicine, and computer science. Author or editor of 10 books and over 300 articles, Pennebaker has received numerous awards and honors. His most recent book is The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words Say About Us (NY: Bloomsbury). Kenneth Pargament

Kenneth Pargament is a Ph. D. in clinical psychology and professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University, and adjunct professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the Baylor College of Medicine. He served as Distinguished Scholar at the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center. Dr. Pargament has been a leading figure in the movement toward an integrated biopsychosociospiritual approach to healthcare. He has published over 275 articles on religion and health, and authored The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice and Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred. See More Kristin Neff

Kristin Neff is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion over a decade ago. In addition to writing numerous academic articles and book chapters on the topic, she is author of the book "Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself," released by William Morrow, and the 6 CD audio set called “Self-Compassion Step by Step,” released by Sounds True. In conjunction with her colleague Dr. Chris Germer, she has developed an empirically supported eight-week training program called Mindful Self-Compassion, and offers workshops on self-compassion worldwide. Kristin is also featured in the bestselling book and award-winning documentary The Horse Boy, which chronicles her family's journey to Mongolia where they trekked on horseback to find healing for her autistic son. Kristina Durante

Kristina Durante is an associate professor in the Department of Marketing at Rutgers Business School. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Texas, Austin, a M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Mass Communication from Boston University. Her research areas include: (1) women's consumer choice and luxury spending; (2) family spending decisions, and (3) hormones and consumer behavior. The thread that unifies her research program is an evolutionary theoretical approach. Her work was featured in a TEDx talk and has been published in several top tier academic journals including Psychological Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin and Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Marshall Goldsmith

Marshall Goldsmith is a world-renowned business educator and coach. He has been recognized as one of the top ten Most Influential Management Thinkers in the world – and the highest rated executive coach – at the 2011 and 2013 biennial Thinkers50 Conferences in London. He was also recognized as the Thinkers50 Most Influential Leadership Thinker in the World (2011). His books have sold over two million copies worldwide, have been translated into thirty languages and become bestsellers in twelve countries. Melanie Rudd

Dr. Rudd is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. She has a PhD in Marketing from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in Business Administration (with a specialization in Marketing) from the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Dr. Rudd's research interests include the study of temporal perceptions, affect (mood and emotions), well-being, prosocial behaviors, and goal pursuit. Her research has appeared in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Psychological Science, and the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Michael I. Norton

Michael I. Norton is a Professor at the Harvard Business School. He is the co-author – with Elizabeth Dunn – of the book, Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending. In 2012, he was selected for Wired Magazine's Smart List as one of “50 People Who Will Change the World” and his TEDx talk, How to Buy Happiness, has been viewed more than 2.5 million times. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont University. He is the founder and co-director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC).

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is one of the pioneers of the scientific study of happiness. He discovered that people find genuine satisfaction during a state of consciousness called Flow. In this state they are completely absorbed in an activity, especially an activity which involves their creative abilities. During this “optimal experience” they feel “strong, alert, in effortless control, unselfconscious, and at the peak of their abilities.” He insists that happiness does not simply happen. It must be prepared for and cultivated by each person, by setting challenges that are neither too demanding nor too simple for ones abilities. Nipun Mehta

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace (formerly CharityFocus), an incubator of projects that works at the intersection of volunteerism, technology and gift-economy. What started as an experiment with four friends in the Silicon Valley has now grown to a global ecosystem of over 400,000 members that has delivered millions of dollars in service for free. Nipun has received many awards, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service, the President's Volunteer Service Award and Wavy Gravy's Humanitarian award. He is routinely invited to share his message of "giftivism" to wide ranging audiences, from inner city youth in Memphis to academics in London to international dignitaries at the United Nations; his speech at UPenn commencement in May 2012 was read by millions. He serves on the advisory boards of the Seva Foundation, the Dalai Lama Foundation, and Greater Good Science Center. See More Phillip R. Shaver

Phillip R. Shaver, PhD, is Distinguished Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of California, Davis, where he arrived in 1992 after serving on the faculties of Columbia University, New York University, the University of Denver, and SUNY at Buffalo. He has received grants from NSF, NIMH, and numerous foundations and has published over 300 scholarly articles and book chapters. He has coauthored and co-edited numerous books including In Search of Intimacy; Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes; Attachment in Adulthood; Handbook of Attachment; Prosocial Motives, Emotions, and Behavior; The Social Psychology of Morality: Exploring the Causes of Good and Evil; and Mechanisms of Social Connection: From Brain to Group. His research deals with attachment theory, close relationships, human emotions, and personality development. See More Robert "Reb" Rebele Robert "Reb" Rebele is a consultant and educator with the University of Pennsylvania and the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), as well as a range of corporate, technology, non-profit, and educational organizations. Reb frequently collaborates with Dr. Adam Grant of the Wharton School on research and consulting projects related to employee motivation, reciprocity styles, and helping behaviors in the workplace. Reb earned his Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree in 2010 at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied work/life design and the relationship between writing and well-being. He continues to teach in the MAPP program as a guest lecturer, curriculum consultant, and assistant instructor. When he is not caught up in conversation with a student, professor, friend or colleague about some big idea, Reb can usually be found at home in Philadelphia with his wife, Amy, and their terrier mutt, Bugsy. Richard J. Davidson

Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., is a leading expert on the study of emotions and how they affect well-being. He is the Founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center, the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, and Director of the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Dr. Davidson received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard University in 1976 and joined UW-Madison in 1984. His groundbreaking research has earned him the recipient of numerous awards including the William James Fellow Award from the American Psychological Society. In 2000, he was the recipient of the most distinguished award for science given by the American Psychological Association - the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. In 2011, he was given the Paul D. MacLean Award for Outstanding Neuroscience Research in Psychosomatic Medicine. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences from 2011-2017, member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Mental Health for 2014-2016, and has contributed to the 2015 United Nation's World Happiness Report. Sonja Lyubomirsky

Sonja Lyubomirsky is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. Originally from Russia, she received her A.B., summa cum laude, from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology from Stanford University. Lyubomirsky currently teaches courses in social psychology and positive psychology and serves as graduate advisor. Her teaching and mentoring of students have been recognized with two Faculty of the Year awards and a Faculty Mentor of the Year award. Lyubomirsky's research – on the possibility of permanently increasing happiness — has been honored with Fellow status from three different scientific societies, a Science of Generosity grant, a John Templeton Foundation Grant, a Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, and (with Sheldon) a million-dollar grant from NIMH. Lyubomirsky's best-selling 2008 book, The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want (Penguin Press) has been published in 23 countries, and her recent book, The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, But Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy, But Does, is translated (or will be) in 16 countries. Her work has been written up in hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, and she has appeared in multiple TV shows, radio shows, and feature documentaries in North America, South America, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. She lives in Santa Monica, California, with her family. Srikumar S. Rao

Prof. Srikumar Rao helped thousands of executives and entrepreneurs all over the world discover deep meaning. His methods have enabled them to achieve quantum leaps in effectiveness. Graduates of his workshops have become more creative and more inspiring leaders. Above all, they have developed an inner serenity born of the knowledge that they will able to appropriately handle whatever comes their way, be it, a small wave, or a tsunami. They become resilient and bounce back nonchalantly from reverses that would floor most peers. Prof. Rao received his Ph.D in Marketing from the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University. He has a degree in physics from St. Stephen's college, Delhi University, and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He conceived the innovative course “Creativity and Personal Mastery”. Students found it so overwhelmingly powerful that it remains the only business school course in the world to have its own alumni association. Prof. Rao's work has been extensively covered in the media including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The London Times, The Independent Time, The Financial Times, Fortune, The Guardian, Forbes, Business Week, and dozens of other publications. You can find Prof. Rao's articles, interviews (Ted talk) and other details about his work by clicking on this link. If you'd like to know more about Prof. Rao, please click here, and feel free to register on Prof. Rao's blog, or to reach him at . Steven Tomlinson

Steven Tomlinson holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Stanford University. He taught finance, economics and entrepreneurship at The University of Texas McCombs's School of Business where his students awarded him several honors, including the prestigious Texas Excellence Teaching Award. He is an adjunct professor of pastoral ministry at the Theological Seminary of the Southwest. In addition to his teaching, Tomlinson is an accomplished actor and playwright. His one-man shows about business, ethics, and modern life have won numerous Austin theatre awards and have been produced off-Broadway and nationwide. He also coaches communication strategy for executives and managers at Wall Street, Fortune 500 and start-up firms. Sunaina K. Chugani

Sunaina K. Chugani is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Baruch College (CUNY) in New York City. Her research explores the intersection of hedonic adaptation, gratitude, materialism, and consumer happiness. She teaches Consumer Behavior at Baruch College and likes chatting about the "Power of Enough" and the relationship between consumption and well-being. In her free time, Sunaina volunteers for Infinite Love and ServiceSpace, both entirely volunteer-run non-profit organizations serving the community and fostering inner growth. She is also a student of 17th generation Sufi musician Ustad Ghulam Farid Nizami. Website: SunainaChugani.com Thomas Gilovich

Thomas Gilovich is the Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology at Cornell University and co-director of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision Research. He received his B.A. in Psychology in 1976 from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his PhD in Psychology in 1981 from Stanford University.

Dr. Gilovich specializes in the study of everyday judgment and reasoning. In addition to his articles in scientific journals, Dr. Gilovich is the author of How We Know What Isn't So (Free Press), Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes (Simon and Schuster, with Gary Belsky), and Social Psychology (W.W. Norton, with Dacher Keltner, Serena Chen, and Richard Nisbett), and the forthcoming The Wisest One in the Room (The Free Press, with Lee Ross). Dr. Gilovich is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.