Our team unites experts in the social sciences, medicine, computer science, and neuroscience who study human behavior creating the greatest interdisciplinary effort in history to solve the problem of enduring behavior change.
Katherine Milkman
Director of BCFG Savings and Health
Katy Milkman is the James G. Dinan Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, host of Charles Schwab’s popular behavioral economics podcast Choiceology, and the former president of the international Society for Judgment and Decision Making. She is also the co-founder and co-director of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative, a research center with the mission of advancing the science of lasting behavior change.
Over the course of her career, Katy has worked with or advised dozens of organizations on how to spur positive change, including Google, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Red Cross, 24 Hour Fitness, Walmart and Morningstar.
An award-winning scholar and teacher, Katy writes frequently about behavioral science for major media outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Economist. Her bestselling book How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be was named one of the eight best books for healthy living in 2021 by the New York Times, and Katy was also named one the world’s top 50 Management thinkers by Thinkers50 in 2021.
Katy earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University (summa cum laude), where she studied Operations Research and American Studies, and her PhD from Harvard University where she studied Computer Science and Business.
Angela Duckworth
Director of BCFG Education
Angela Duckworth is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the founder and CEO of the Character Lab, a nonprofit whose mission is to advance the science and practice of character development.
Angela studies grit and self-control, two attributes that are distinct from IQ and yet powerfully predict success and well-being.
A 2013 MacArthur Fellow, Angela has advised the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams, and Fortune 500 CEOs. Currently, she serves as a Faculty Director for Wharton People Analytics, an initiative that helps organizations adopt the latest insights from social science research.
Dena Gromet
Executive Director of BCFG
Dena Gromet received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Princeton University, and has over a decade of experience in conducting research on the drivers of attitudes and behaviors across multiple domains. Dena was previously the Research Director for the Wharton People Analytics Initiative, and a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center and with the MacArthur Foundation Law and Neuroscience Project.
Shlomo Benartzi
Distinguished Senior Fellow and Co-Lead of BCFG Savings
Shlomo Benartzi is a behavioral economist interested in combining the insights of psychology and economics to solve big societal problems. He works on creating digital nudges that leverage technology to achieve massive scale and help millions make better financial decisions. He received a Ph.D. from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and is a professor emeritus and co-founder of the Behavioral Decision-Making Group at UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Along with Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler, Shlomo pioneered the Save More Tomorrow™ (SMarT) program, a behavioral prescription designed to nudge employees to increase their savings rates gradually over time. The program has been incorporated into the Pension Protection Act of 2006, enabling approximately 15 million Americans to boost their retirement savings.
Shlomo is currently a senior academic advisor for the VOYA Behavioral Finance Institute for Innovation, a board member of Acorns, and a senior advisor for Blast, Personal Capital and Wisdom Tree.
TEAM
Aden Halpern
Research Coordinator
Heather Graci
Research Coordinator
Rayyan Mobarak
Research Coordinator
Jake Rothschild
Research Coordinator
TEAM SCIENTISTS
Modupe Akinola
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Columbia University
Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Associate Professor of Leadership and Ethics
Dolores Albarracin
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Professor of Psychology, Business, and Medicine
Hunt Allcott
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
New York University
Associate Professor of Economics
Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research
Dan Ariely
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Duke University
James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics
David Asch
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania
John Morgan Professor of Medicine; Medical Ethics; Health Policy; Health Care Management; and Operations, Information and Decisions
Member of the National Academy of Sciences
Susan Athey
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Stanford University
The Economics of Technology Professor
Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Linda Babcock
Area of Focus: Education
Carnegie Mellon University
James Mellon Walton Professor of Economics and Department Head of Social and Decision Sciences
Sigal Barsade
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Joseph Frank Bernstein Professor of Management
Max Bazerman
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Harvard University
Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration
Co-Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School
Ron Berman
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Associate Professor of Marketing
John Beshears
Area of Focus: Savings
Harvard University
Terrie F. and Bradley M. Bloom Associate Professor of Business Administration
Alison Wood Brooks
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Harvard University
Associate Professor of Negotiation, Organizations, and Markets and Hellman Faculty Fellow
Chris Bryan
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Texas at Austin
Assistant Professor of Business, Government & Society
Alison M. Buttenheim
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Associate Professor of Nursing and Health Policy and Silverstein Endowed Term Chair in Global Women’s Health
Colin Camerer
Area of Focus: Savings
California Institute of Technology
Robert Kirby Professor of Behavioral Finance and Economics
MacArthur Genius Award Winner
Scott E. Carrell
Area of Focus: Education
University of California, Davis
Professor of Economics
Ben Castleman
Area of Focus: Education
University of Virginia
Associate Professor of Education and Public Policy
Founder and Director, Nudge4 Solutions Lab
Christopher F. Chabris
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Geisinger
Professor, Co-Director of the Behavioral Insights Team
Edward Chang
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Harvard University
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Gretchen Chapman
Area of Focus: Health
Carnegie Mellon University
Professor of Psychology, Social and Decisional Sciences
Keith Chen
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of California, Los Angeles
Associate Professor of Economics
Nicholas Christakis
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Yale University
Sol Goldman Family Professor of Social and Natural Science
Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science
Dolly Chugh
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
New York University
Associate Professor of Management and Organizations
Robert Cialdini
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Arizona State University
Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing
New York Times Bestselling Author
Benjamin A. Converse
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Virginia
Associate Professor of Public Policy and Psychology
Alia Crum
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Stanford University
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Cynthia Cryder
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Washington University in St. Louis
Associate Professor of Marketing
Hengchen Dai
Area of Focus: Health
University of California, Los Angeles
Assistant Professor of Management
Wendy De La Rosa
Area of Focus: Savings
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Stefano DellaVigna
Area of Focus: Health
University of California, Berkeley
Daniel E. Koshland Sr. Distinguished Professor of Economics and Professor of Business Administration
Jalpa Doshi
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania
Professor of Medicine
Director of Value Based Insurance Design Initiatives and Associate Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, Leonard Davis Institute
Carol Dweck
Area of Focus: Education
Stanford University
Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology
Member of the National Academy of Sciences
New York Times Bestselling Author
Ezekiel Emanuel
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania
Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor
Vice Provost for Global Initiatives
Chair, Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy
Co-Director, Healthcare Transformation Institute
Perelman School of Medicine and The Wharton School
Biden COVID-19 Transition Team
Emily Falk
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Pennsylvania
Associate Professor of Communication, Psychology, and Marketing
Ernst Fehr
Area of Focus: Education
Department of Economics, University of Zurich
Professor of Microeconomics and Experimental Economics
Eli J. Finkel
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Northwestern University
Professor of Psychology and Management & Organizations
Ayelet Fishbach
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Chicago
Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing
Gary Foster
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania
Adjunct Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry
Chief Scientific Officer at Weight Watchers
Craig Fox
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
UCLA Anderson School of Management
Harold Williams Chair in Management
Co-Director, Interdisciplinary Research Group on Behavioral Decision Making
Michele J. Gelfand
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Maryland
Distinguished University Professor
Rachel Gershon
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
UC San Diego Rady School of Management
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Tom Gilovich
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Cornell University
Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Chair of Psychology
Francesca Gino
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Harvard University
Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration
Unit Head, Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
Ayelet Gneezy
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of California, San Diego
Professor of Behavioral Sciences and Marketing
Uri Gneezy
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of California, San Diego
Professor of Economics and Strategic Management
Epstein/Atkinson Endowed Chair in Behavioral Economics
Daniel Goldstein
Area of Focus: Savings
Microsoft Research
Principal Researcher and Assistant Managing Director
Noah J. Goldstein
Area of Focus: Health
University of California, Los Angeles
Professor of Management & Organizations, Psychology, and Medicine and Bing (’86) and Alice Liu Yang Endowed Term Chair
New York Times Bestselling Author
Adam Grant
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Pennsylvania
Saul P. Steinberg Professor of Management and Psychology
New York Times Bestselling Author
James Gross
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Stanford University
Professor of Psychology
Director of Stanford Psychophysiology Laboratory
Crystal C. Hall
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Washington
Associate Professor of Public Policy and Governance
Johannes Haushofer
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Stockholm University
Professor of Economics
Jim Heckman
Area of Focus: Education
University of Chicago
Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Law
Nobel Laureate
Member of the National Academy of Sciences
Hal E. Hershfield
Area of Focus: Savings
University of California, Los Angeles
Associate Professor of Marketing, Behavioral Decision Making, and Psychology
Tatiana Homonoff
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
New York University
Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Rick Hoyle
Area of Focus: Education
Duke University
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Director of the Center for the Study of Adolescent Risk and Resilience
Chris Hsee
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Chicago
Theodore O. Yntema Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing
Alex Imas
Area of Focus: Savings
University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics
Jon M. Jachimowicz
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Harvard Business School
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Kirabo Jackson
Area of Focus: Education
Northwestern University
Abraham Harris Professor of Education and Social Policy
Leslie K. John
Area of Focus: Health
Harvard University
Associate Professor of Business Administration
Eric Johnson
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Columbia University
Norman Eig Professor of Business
Joseph Kable
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Pennsylvania
Baird Term Associate Professor
Dean Karlan
Area of Focus: Savings
Northwestern University
Professor of Economics and Finance
Founder of Innovations for Poverty Action
Tim Kautz
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Mathematica
BCFG Senior Fellow
Judd Kessler
Area of Focus: Education
University of Pennsylvania
Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy
Ethan Kross
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Michigan, Ross School of Business
Professor of Psychology and Management/Organizations
Howard Kunreuther
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
James G. Dinan Professor Emeritus of Operations, Information and Decisions
Co-Director Emeritus, Risk Management and Decision Processes Center
Rahul Ladhania
Area of Focus: Health
University of Michigan
Assistant Professor of Health Informatics
David Laibson
Area of Focus: Savings
Harvard University
Robert I. Goldman Professor of Economics
Chairman of the Department of Economics
Cait Lamberton
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Pennsylvania
Alberto I. Duran President’s Distinguished Professor -Professor of Marketing
Rick Larrick
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Duke University
Faculty Director for Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment (EDGE)
Thomas Lee
Area of Focus: Health
Harvard University
Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management; and Medicine
Chief Medical Officer at Press Ganey
Jennifer S. Lerner
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University
Thornton F. Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy, Management, & Decision Science
Emma Levine
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Chicago
Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science and Charles E. Merrill Faculty Scholar
Steve Levitt
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Chicago
William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics
Neil Lewis Jr.
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Cornell University
Assistant Professor of Communication and Social Behavior
Elizabeth Linos
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of California, Berkeley
Michelle J. Schwartz Assistant Professorship in Public Policy
John List
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Chicago
Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor in Economics
George Loewenstein
Area of Focus: Health
Carnegie Mellon University
Herbert A. Simon Professor of Economics and Psychology
Bridget Terry Long
Area of Focus: Education
Harvard University
Saris Professor of Education and Economics
Michael Luca
Area of Focus: Education
Harvard University
Lee J Styslinger III Associate Professor of Business Administration
Jens Ludwig
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Chicago
McCormick Foundation Professor of Social Service Administration, Law, and Public Policy
Ulrike M. Malmendier
Area of Focus: Savings
University of California, Berkeley
Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance and Professor of Economics
Sandra Matz
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Columbia Business School
David W. Zalaznick Associate Professor of Business
Nina Mazar
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Boston University
Professor of Marketing
Co-Director Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy
Barbara Mellers
Area of Focus: Savings
University of Pennsylvania
I. George Heyman University Professor of Marketing and Psychology
Michelle N. Meyer
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Geisinger
Assistant Professor Center for Translational Bioethics and Health Law Policy, Co-Director of the Behavioral Insights Team
Olivia S. Mitchell
Area of Focus: Savings
University of Pennsylvania
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor and Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy and Insurance and Risk Management
Executive Director of the Pension Research Council
Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak
Area of Focus: Health
Yale University
Professor of Economics
Don Moore
Area of Focus: Health
University of California, Berkeley
Professor of Management
Carey Morewedge
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Boston University
Professor of Marketing
Sendhil Mullainathan
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Chicago
Roman Family University Professor of Computation and Behavioral Science
MacArthur Genius Award Winner
Mary Murphy
Area of Focus: Education
Indiana University
Associate Professor of Psychology
Muriel Niederle
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Stanford University
Professor of Economics
Michael Norton
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Harvard University
Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration
Ted O’Donoghue
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Cornell University
Zubrow Professor of Economics
Gabriele Oettingen
Area of Focus: Education
New York University
Professor of Psychology
Philip Oreopoulos
Area of Focus: Education
University of Toronto
Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Emily Oster
Area of Focus: Health
Brown University
Professor of Economics and Public Affairs
Betsy Levy Paluck
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Princeton University
Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs
Mitesh Patel
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Devin Pope
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Chicago
Professor of Behavioral Science
Matt Rabin
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Harvard University
Pershing Square Professor of Behavioral Economics
David Rand
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Associate Professor of Management Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Co-Director of the MIT Applied Cooperation Team
Jason Riis
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania
BCFG Senior Fellow
Jane Risen
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Chicago
Professor of Behavioral Science and John E. Jeuck Faculty Fellow
Todd Rogers
Area of Focus: Education
Harvard University
Associate Professor of Public Policy
Roy Rosin
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania
Chief Innovation Officer at Penn Medicine
Associate Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Scholar Program
Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics
Heather Royer
Area of Focus: Health
University of California, Santa Barbara
Professor of Economics
Silvia Saccardo
Area of Focus: Health
Carnegie Mellon University
Assistant Professor of Social and Decision Sciences
Sally Sadoff
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of California, San Diego
Associate Professor of Economics and Strategic Management
Anya Samek
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of California, San Diego
Associate Professor of Economics and Strategy
Laurie Santos
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Yale University
Professor of Psychology and Head of Silliman College
Barbara Schneider
Area of Focus: Education
Michigan State University
John A. Hannah Chair and Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Education
Maurice Schweitzer
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Pennsylvania
Cecilia Yen Koo Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions
Martin Seligman
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Pennsylvania
Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology
Director of the Positive Psychology Center
Former President of the American Psychological Association
Ovul Sezer
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior
Anuj Shah
Area of Focus: Savings
University of Chicago
Associate Professor of Behavioral Science
Marissa Sharif
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Paschal Sheeran
Area of Focus: Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Professor of Psychology
Deborah Small
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Pennsylvania
Laura and John J. Pomerantz Professor of Marketing and Professor of Psychology
Jack Soll
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Duke University
Associate Professor of Management and Organization
Dilip Soman
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Toronto
Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science and Economics
Jann Spiess
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Assistant Professor of Operations, Information & Technology
Charles Sprenger
Area of Focus: Savings
California Institute of Technology
Professor of Economics
Bradley Staats
Area of Focus: Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Professor of Operations
Cass R. Sunstein
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Harvard University
Robert Walmsley University Professor
Gaurav Suri
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
San Francisco State University
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Abigail Sussman
Area of Focus: Savings
University of Chicago
Associate Professor of Marketing
Justin Sydnor
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Associate Professor of Risk and Insurance
Richard Thaler
Area of Focus: Savings
University of Chicago
Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics
Nobel Laureate
New York Times Bestselling Author
Yaacov Trope
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
New York University
Professor of Psychology
Peter A. Ubel
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Duke University
Madge and Dennis T. McLawhorn University Professor of Business at Fuqua, Professor of Public Policy and Medicine
Lyle Ungar
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Pennsylvania
Professor of Bioengineering, Computer and Information Science, Genomics and Computational Biology, Operations and Information Management, and Psychology
Oleg Urminsky
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Chicago
Professor of Marketing
Jay J. Van Bavel
Area of Focus: Health
New York University
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology & Center for Neural Science
Christophe Van den Bulte
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Gayfryd Steinberg Professor and Professor of Marketing
Kevin Volpp
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania
Janet and John Haas President’s Distinguished Professor
Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, Leonard Davis Institute
Member of the National Academy of Sciences
Vice Chairman for Health Policy, Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy
Greg Walton
Area of Focus: Education
Stanford University
Associate Professor of Psychology
Duncan J. Watts
Area of Focus: Health
University of Pennsylvania
Stevens University Professor
Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research
Elke Weber
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Princeton University
Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor
Ashley Whillans
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
Harvard University
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Robb Willer
Area of Focus: Health
Stanford University
Professor of Sociology, Psychology, and Organizational Behavior
Wendy Wood
Area of Focus: Cross-Domain
University of Southern California
Provost Professor of Psychology and Business
George Wu
Area of Focus: Education
University of Chicago
John P. and Lillian A. Gould Professor of Behavioral Science
David Yeager
Area of Focus: Education
University of Texas at Austin
Associate Professor of Psychology
Jonathan Zinman
Area of Focus: Savings
Dartmouth College
Professor of Economics
Research Affiliate at Innovations for Poverty Action
GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCS
Lauren Eskreis-Winkler
Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
Kyla Haimovitz
University of Pennsylvania
Samantha Horn
Carnegie Mellon University
Alexa Hubbard
New York University
Steven Jones
Rutgers University
Joowon Kim
University of Pennsylvania
Erika Kirgios
University of Pennsylvania
Katie Mehr
University of Pennsylvania
Yeji Park
Princeton University
Aneesh Rai
University of Pennsylvania
Joachim Talloen
Carnegie Mellon University
Jamie Taxer
Stanford University
TEAM ADVISORS
Laszlo Bock
Co-founder and CEO
Humu
Troyen Brennan
Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer
CVS Health
Steve Cole
Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
UCLA School of Medicine
Helen Dean
CEO
United Kingdom National
Employment Savings Trust
William Hite
Superintendent
The School District of Philadelphia
Dave Levin
Co-founder, KIPP
Co-founder, RELAY Graduate School of Education
Thomas Montag
COO
Bank of America
Robert Sahadevan
Enterprise VP of Consumer Marketing and Data Analytics
Humana
Maya Shankar
Head of Behavioral Science
Google
Ryan Smith
Co-founder and CEO
Qualtrics
Piyush Tantia
Co-Executive Director
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