Katherine L. Milkman, Ph.D.

Behavioral Scientist, Wharton Professor, and Co-Director of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative

"I’m very enthusiastic about increasing access to education about behavioral science and decision making at the K-12 level, and I’m impressed by the work the Alliance for Decision Education is doing. I hope I can be a helpful ally and supporter."

Affiliations:

  • The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania: James G. Dinan Endowed Professor; Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions
  • Choiceology, a podcast from Charles Schwab: Host
  • The Society for Judgment and Decision Making: Former President
  • Association for Psychological Science: Fellow
  • Behavior Change for Good Initiative: Co-Founder and Co-Director
  • Management Science: Associate Editor

Awards:

  • The Robert B. Cialdini Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 2020
  • Award for the Best 2019 Academy of Management Journal Article, 2020
  • William F. O’Dell Award for the Most Impactful 2012 Journal of Marketing Research Article, 2017
  • Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences: early career award, 2015
  • Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar, 2015
  • Dorinda and Mark Winkelman Distinguished Scholar Award, 2012
  • Poets & Quants Selection: “World’s Best 40 B-School Professors under the Age of 40,” 2011

Publications:

  • How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
  • Writes for outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, and Scientific American

Education:

  • Harvard University, Ph.D.
  • Princeton University, Bachelor’s Degree

 

Photo Credit: Peter Murphy

Katy Milkman is widely recognized as a leading expert on behavioral change and the decisions that impact change.

Author of a national best-seller, How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, and Host of a top-rated podcast, Choiceology, Katy is widely published and interviewed on topics related to what drives behavior. Her research explores ways that insights from economics and psychology can be harnessed to change consequential behaviors for good, such as savings, exercise, vaccination take-up, and discrimination.

She serves as the James G. Dinan Endowed Professor and Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and holds a secondary appointment at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. She is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative, a research center with the mission of advancing the science of lasting behavior change. She has worked with or advised organizations including Google, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Red Cross, and Walmart on how to spur positive change. Katy writes about behavioral science for outlets, such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, and Scientific American.