Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair 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. Sonja’s teaching and mentoring of students have been recognized with the Faculty of the Year and Faculty Mentor of the Year Awards and her research—on the possibility of permanently increasing happiness—has been honored with a John Templeton Foundation grant, a Science of Generosity grant, a Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, and a million-dollar grant (with Ken Sheldon) from the National Institute of Mental Health, along with many other awards, grants and honors.
Sonja’s 2008 book, The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want (Penguin Press) has been translated into 22 languages and published in 36 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. Her new book is The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn’t, What Shouldn’t Make You Happy, but Does (Penguin Press).