Sheena Iyengar

Last updated
Sheena S. Iyengar
Sheena Iyengar.jpg
Born
Sheena Sethi

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Stanford University
University of Pennsylvania
OccupationS.T. Lee Professor of Business
Employer Columbia Business School
Known forAcademic research on Choice
Books: Art of Choosing 2010, Think Bigger 2023
Website sheenaiyengar.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Sheena S. Iyengar is the S.T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Department at Columbia Business School, [1] [2] widely and best known as an expert on choice. [3] [4] [5] Her research focuses on the many facets of decision making, including: why people want choice, what affects how and what we choose, and how we can improve our decision making. [2] [6] She has presented TED talks on choice [7] and is the author of The Art of Choosing (2010). [8]

Contents

Early life and education

Iyengar was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [8] :xi Her parents were immigrants from Delhi, [9] India. [8] :xi–xii As a child, she was diagnosed with a rare form of retinitis pigmentosa, [8] :xii an inherited disease of retinal degeneration. By the age of nine, she could no longer read. [6] By the age of sixteen, she was completely blind, [6] although able to perceive light. [8] :xii She remains blind as an adult. [5]

Iyengar's father died of a heart attack when she was thirteen. [8] :xii–xiii This change in family circumstances, and Iyengar's loss of vision, prompted Iyengar's mother to steer her towards higher education and self-sufficiency, saying to Iyengar: "I don't want to hear about men or boys, you've got to stand on your own two feet." [10]

In 1992, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School and a B.A. in psychology from the College of Arts and Sciences. [11] She then earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Stanford University in 1997. [11]

For her dissertation "Choice and its Discontents," Iyengar received the Best Dissertation Award for 1998 from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. [12]

Academic career

Iyengar's first faculty appointment was at the Sloan School of Management at MIT from July 1997 to June 1998. [11] In 1998, Iyengar joined the faculty at the Columbia Business School, starting as an assistant professor. [11] She has been a full professor at Columbia from July 2007 onward and, since November 2009, the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business. [11] [12]

Her principal line of research concerns the psychology of choice, and she has been studying how people perceive and respond to choice since the 1990s. [13] She has authored or coauthored over 30 journal articles. [2] Her research and statements have been cited often in the print media, [14] including by Bloomberg Business Week, [15] CityLab, [16] Money Magazine, [17] The New York Times, [13] and The Washington Post. [18] Media appearances include The Diane Rehm Show [19] (NPR), Marketplace [20] (APM).

Iyengar was the recipient of the 2001 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers [21] for, as the NSF said, "helping lead to a better understanding of how cultural, individual, and situational dimensions of human decision-making can be used to improve people's lives." [22] In 2011, Iyengar was named a member of the Thinkers50, [4] a global ranking of the top 50 management thinkers. [23] In 2012, she was awarded the Dean's Award for Outstanding Core Teaching from Columbia Business School. [24]

Non-academic works

Sheena Iyengar (center) and other authors shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award FT and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year 2010 short-listed authors.jpg
Sheena Iyengar (center) and other authors shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award

In addition to the journal articles mentioned above, Iyengar has written non-academic articles, including for CNN [25] [26] and Slate , [27] and many book chapters. [11] She has also presented two TED talks: "The Art of Choosing" (2010) and "How to Make Choosing Easier" (2012). [7]

The book she is most known for, [5] The Art of Choosing (2010), [8] explores the mysteries of choice in everyday life. It was listed third in Amazon's top ten books in Business & Investing of 2010 [28] and was shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award. [29]

In the Afterword of the 2011 edition of The Art of Choosing, Iyengar distills one aspect of her work explaining and advocating for choice, arguing for people to take responsibility for their lives and not rely on a supposed fate determined by some "greater force out there." [8] :270 She says: "Choice allows us to be architects of our future." [8] :270

In 2023, Iyengar published her second book titled Think Bigger: How to Innovate.

Personal life

Iyengar is divorced from Garud Iyengar, another Columbia University professor. She lives in New York City and shares custody of their son, Ishaan. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalie Portman</span> Israeli-born American actress (born 1981)

Natalie Portman is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span> US Supreme Court justice from 1993 to 2020

Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton to replace retiring justice Byron White, and at the time was viewed as a moderate consensus-builder. Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman and the second woman to serve on the Court, after Sandra Day O'Connor. During her tenure, Ginsburg authored the majority opinions in cases such as United States v. Virginia (1996), Olmstead v. L.C. (1999), Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. (2000), and City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York (2005). Later in her term, Ginsburg received attention for passionate dissents that reflected liberal views of the law. She was dubbed "the Notorious R.B.G.", a moniker she later embraced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Perkins</span> American politician and workers rights advocate (1880–1965)

Frances Perkins was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the fourth United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of the Democratic Party, Perkins was the first woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her longtime friend, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped make labor issues important in the emerging New Deal coalition. She was one of two Roosevelt cabinet members to remain in office for his entire presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choice</span> Deciding between multiple options

A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate motivators and models. For example, a traveler might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a given destination at a specified time. The preferred route can then account for information such as the length of each of the possible routes, the amount of fuel in the vehicle, traffic conditions, etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Gottfredson</span> American psychologist & scholar

Linda Susanne Gottfredson is an American psychologist and writer. She is professor emeritus of educational psychology at the University of Delaware and co-director of the Delaware-Johns Hopkins Project for the Study of Intelligence and Society. She is best known for writing the 1994 letter "Mainstream Science on Intelligence", which was published in the Wall Street Journal in defense of Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's controversial book The Bell Curve (1994).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanessa Hudgens</span> American actress and singer (born 1988)

Vanessa Anne Hudgens is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in Thirteen (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical film series (2006–2008), which brought her significant mainstream media success. The success of the first film led Hudgens to acquire a recording contract with Hollywood Records, with whom she released two studio albums, V (2006) and Identified (2008).

Seyla Benhabib is a Turkish-American philosopher. Benhabib is a senior research scholar and adjunct professor of law at Columbia Law School. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Columbia University Department of Philosophy and a senior fellow at the Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought. She was a scholar in residence at the Law School from 2018 to 2019 and was also the James S. Carpentier Visiting Professor of Law in spring 2019. She was the Eugene Mayer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University from 2001 to 2020. She was director of the program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from 2002 to 2008. Benhabib is well known for her work in political philosophy, which draws on critical theory and feminist political theory. She has written extensively on the philosophers Hannah Arendt and Jürgen Habermas, as well as on the topic of human migration. She is the author of numerous books, and has received several prestigious awards and lectureships in recognition of her work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna J. Harrison</span> American organic chemist (1912–1998)

Anna Jane Harrison was an American organic chemist and a professor of chemistry at Mount Holyoke College for nearly forty years. She was the first female President of the American Chemical Society, and the recipient of twenty honorary degrees. She was nationally known for her teaching and was active nationally and internationally as a supporter of women in science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikki Haley</span> American politician (born 1972)

Nimarata Nikki Haley is an American politician who served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, she was the 29th United States ambassador to the United Nations for two years, from January 2017 through December 2018. She is also the first Indian American to serve as a member of a presidential cabinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helene D. Gayle</span>

Helene D. Gayle is an American physician who has served as the president of Spelman College since 2023. She formerly served as CEO of the Chicago Community Trust, one of the nation's leading community foundations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Cuddy</span> American psychologist

Amy Joy Casselberry Cuddy is an American social psychologist, author and speaker. She is a proponent of "power posing", a self-improvement technique whose scientific validity has been questioned. She has served as a faculty member at Rutgers University, Kellogg School of Management and Harvard Business School. Cuddy's most cited academic work involves using the stereotype content model that she helped develop to better understand the way people think about stereotyped people and groups. Though Cuddy left her tenure-track position at Harvard Business School in the spring of 2017, she continues to contribute to its executive education programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Konnikova</span> Russian-American writer and psychologist

Maria Konnikova is a Russian-American writer. Konnikova has worked as a television producer, poker player, podcaster and written three New York Times best-seller list books, including Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ursula Staudinger</span> German psychologist

Ursula M. Staudinger is a German psychologist and researcher of aging. She is the rector of the Technical University of Dresden (TUD). She was Professor of Sociomedical Sciences and Professor of Psychology at the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University. Between 2013 and 2017 Staudinger was the founding director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center and president of the affiliated International Longevity Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elke U. Weber</span>

Elke U. Weber is a Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs at Princeton University where she holds the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professorship in Energy & the Environment. Prior to moving to Princeton in 2016, she spent 19 years at Columbia University, where she founded and co-directed the Earth Institute's Center for Research on Environmental Decisions and the Columbia Business School's Center for Decision Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda E. Ginzel</span>

Linda E. Ginzel is a Clinical Professor of Managerial Psychology at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the founder of the Customized Executive Education program. She researches, develops curricula, and teaches courses on negotiation, effective leadership, and organizational behavior. Ginzel is a two-time recipient of the James S. Kemper Jr. Grant in Business Ethics.

<i>Modern Romance: An Investigation</i> Book by Aziz Ansari Eric Klinenberg

Modern Romance: An Investigation is a research book written by American actor and stand-up comedian Aziz Ansari and American sociologist and New York University professor Eric Klinenberg. The book was published in 2015 and provides research information exploring the change in romantic society that has occurred in the past decade. One of the main concepts in the book concerns the paradox of choice in relationships: having more options may seem better at first glance, though so many options can ultimately make "settling" for anyone a lot more difficult.

Cassie Mogilner Holmes is a professor of marketing and behavioral decision making at UCLA Anderson School of Management and author of Happier Hour. Best known for her research on time and happiness..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modupe Akinola</span> American psychologist (born 1974)

Modupe Nyikoale Akinola is an American organizational scholar and social psychologist who examines the science of stress, creativity, and how to maximize human potential in diverse organizations. She is currently the Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, where she is the Director of the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics.

Katherine E. Aidala is an American physicist. She is a professor of physics at Mount Holyoke College and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

The Art of Choosing: The Decisions We Make Everyday – What They Say About Us and How We Can Improve Them is a non-fiction book written by Sheena Iyengar, a professor at Columbia Business School known for her research in the field of choice. The book was first published by the imprint Twelve Books of Hachette Book Group in March 2010.

References

  1. "Mount Holyoke Biography -- Sheena S. Iyengar". Mount Holyoke. Mount Holyoke College. 2012-04-18. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sheena S. Iyengar -- Columbia Business School Directory". Columbia Business School. Columbia University. 2014-09-15. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  3. "Five Questions on Choosing for ... Sheena Iyengar". Graduate Management News. Graduate Management Admission Council. May 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Sheena Iyengar 2011 Ranked Thinker #48". Thinkers50. Thinkers50 Limited. 2011. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Fensom, Michael (26 March 2018). "Take 5: Sheena Iyengar, author and expert on choice". Inside Jersey Magazine. New Jersey On-Line LLC. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Carter, Andrea (22 October 2012). "Take 5: Sheena Iyengar, author and expert on choice". Poets & Quants. Poets & Quants, Inc. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Sheena Iyengar, Psycho-economist". TED. TED. 22 October 2012. Archived from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Iyengar, Sheena (March 2011) [First published 2010]. The Art of Choosing . New York, NY, USA: Twelve. ISBN   978-0-446-50411-9.
  9. "Sheena Iyengar (Preview)". SCRIBD. Scribd Inc. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  10. McHugh, Fionnuala (26 May 2016). "Professor Sheena Iyengar on choice that changed her life". South China Morning Post. South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sheena Iyengar, S.T. Lee Professor of Business: Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Columbia Business School. Columbia University. 7 January 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Sheena Iyengar". Social Psychology Network. Social Psychology Network. 21 December 2009. Archived from the original on 5 December 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 Penelope, Green (17 March 2010). "An Expert on Choice Chooses". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  14. "Sheena Iyengar Media Coverage". Sheena Iyengar. Sheena Iyengar. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  15. Brady, Diane (31 December 2012). "New Year's Resolutions in 140 Characters or Fewer". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  16. Hess, Amanda (29 June 2012). "Is Your City Making You Single?". Bloomberg. The Atlantic Monthly Group. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  17. Wang, Penelope (2 June 2010). "How to make better investment choices". CNNMoney. Cable News Network. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  18. Morin, Richard (8 February 2006). "Congressional Influence Hits Home". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  19. "Sheena Iyengar: "The Art of Choosing"". The Diane Rehm Show. American University Radio. 3 March 2010. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  20. Herships, Sally (10 June 2011). "More choices doesn't always mean a better deal". Marketplace. Minnesota Public Radio. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  21. "2001 Presidential Early Career Awards Announced". The White House, President George W. Bush. The White House, President George W. Bush. 26 June 2002. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  22. "Business' Iyengar Receives National Science Foundation Award for Study of Perception of Choice". Columbia News. Columbia University. 18 September 2002. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  23. "About Thinkers50". Thinkers50. Thinkers50 Limited. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  24. "Faculty Members Recognized for Core Course Teaching". Columbia Business School. Columbia University. 17 October 2012. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  25. Iyengar, Sheena (5 May 2010). "Assisted suicide and 'free choice'". CNN. Cable News Network. Archived from the original on 16 December 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  26. Iyengar, Sheena (11 March 2011). "The 'Michigan fish test' and the Middle East". CNN. Cable News Network. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  27. Iyengar, Sheena (1 June 2010). "Why the Soda Tax Makes Us Angry". Slate. The Slate Group. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  28. "Sheena Iyengar tp Speak at Fifth Annual Spirit of Women in Business (SWIB) Conference". Kent State University. Kent State University. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  29. "Shortlist Announced for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2010". Financial Times. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2017.