Todd Kashdan, Ph.D.

Awarded the 2013 Distinguished Early Career Researcher Award by the American Psychological Association, Todd Kashdan, Ph.D. is among the world’s top experts on the psychology of well-being, psychological strengths, mental agility, and social relationships. His research has been featured in hundreds of media outlets, including multiple articles in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, and Forbes. 

As a professor of psychology at George Mason University and a leading educator to the public, Prof. Kashdan translates state-of-the-art science for practical application to improve our everyday lives. He is well-known for his energetic and disarming communication style. He received the 2010 Distinguished Faculty Member of the Year Award at GMU for his teaching and mentoring. He gave a TEDx talk on psychological flexibility and writes the “Curious?” blog for Psychology Today, which is enjoyed by more than four million readers.

Prof. Kashdan is the author of five books, including Curious?, The Upside of Your Dark Side, and Designing Positive Psychology. In his latest book, The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively, he synthesizes decades of psychological research to show how we can improve the health of organizations and our society. He teaches us how to be courageous enough to question the status quo and instills in us the intelligence to know when and how.

After receiving a Ph.D. in clinical psychology (2004), Prof. Kashdan founded the Well-Being Lab at GMU, which has produced over 210 peer-reviewed journal articles on well-being and resilience, psychological flexibility, meaning and purpose in life, curiosity, and managing social anxiety.