Shawn Achor is the winner of over a dozen distinguished teaching awards at Harvard University, where he delivered lectures in the most popular class at Harvard. In 2009 alone, Shawn was invited to lecture in 36 different countries on how positive psychology can raise happines and performance.
His work received attention in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes and BusinessWeek.
Shawn graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and earned a Masters from Harvard Divinity School in Christian and Buddhist ethics. In 2006, he served as Head Teaching Fellow with Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar of “Positive Psychology,” a class that enrolled 1 out of every 7 Harvard undergraduates. For seven years, Shawn served as an Officer of Harvard, living in Harvard Yard studying and counseling Harvard students.
Shawn now travels around the world giving talks on this research. When the economy collapsed, the world's largest banks sent Shawn on a tour of banking crisis centers to restore confidence and forward progress. He has worked with doctors in Dubai, farmers in Zimbabwe, CEOs in Hong Kong, and students in South Africa.
Shawn is currently collaborating with Yale University on researching the link between happiness and performance, and a book on his research and travels will be published by Random House in 2010.