Biography
Dr. Ellen Langer is a professor in the Psychology Department at Harvard University. Her books written for general and academic readers include Mindfulness and The Power of Mindful Learning, and the forthcoming Mindful Creativity.
Dr. Langer has described her work on the illusion of control, aging, decision-making, and mindfulness theory in over 200 research articles and six academic books. Her work has led to numerous academic honors including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest of the American Psychological Association, the Distinguished Contributions of Basic Science to Applied Psychology award from the American Association of Applied & Preventive Psychology, the James McKeen Cattel Award, and the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize.
The citation for the APA distinguished contributions award reads, in part, "...her pioneering work revealed the profound effects of increasing mindful behavior…and offers new hope to millions whose problems were previously seen as unalterable and inevitable. Ellen Langer has demonstrated repeatedly how our limits are of our own making."
Dr. Langer is a Fellow of The Sloan Foundation; The American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, The American Association for the Advancement of Science; Computers and Society; The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues; The Society of Experimental Social Psychologists. In addition to other honors, she has been a guest lecturer in Japan, Malaysia, Germany, and Argentina.
Included among her books are:
Langer, E. & Dweck, C. Personal Politics. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1973. (Translated into Japanese.)
Langer, E. The Psychology of Control. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1983.
Langer, E. Mindfulness. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1989. (Translated into thirteen languages.)
Alexander, C. & Langer, E. (Eds.) Higher Stages of Human Development: Perspectives on Adult Growth. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Schank, R. and Langer, E. (Eds.) Beliefs, Reasoning and Decision-making: Psycho-logic in Honor of Robert Abelson. New Jersey: Erlbaum Publishing, 1994.
Langer, E. The Power of Mindful Learning. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997. (Translated into nine languages.)
Langer, E. On Becoming an Artist: Ballantine Books, 2005.
Langer, E. Mindfulness and Health, in preparation.
Langer, E. Mindfulness at Work, in preparation.
Contact Information
Harvard University
Department of Psychology
33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Office: 617-495-3860
langer@wjh.harvard.edu
