Ed Diener

Ed Diener (1946 to 2021) was an American psychologist who studied happiness and subjective well-being for more than three decades and was nicknamed Dr. Happiness. He took his bachelor degree at California State University, Fresno and his doctorate at the University of Washington in 1974, then taught at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for 34 years, held professorships at the University of Utah and the University of Virginia, and served as a senior scientist for the Gallup Organization. His research examined how temperament and personality, income and culture shape well-being, how well-being is measured, and how happiness may in turn improve health, longevity, income and job performance. He worked with Daniel Kahneman, Martin Seligman and Shigehiro Oishi, and won the Jack Block award for contributions to personality psychology.