Ed Diener, Ph.D., is an Alumni Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois, where he has been a faculty member since 1974. Diener joined Gallup as a Senior Scientist in 1999. In this role, he advises Gallup on research in the areas of wellbeing and Positive Psychology. Diener's current research focuses on the theories and measurement of wellbeing; temperament and personality influences on wellbeing; income and wellbeing; and cultural influences on wellbeing.

Diener's work has appeared in more than 210 publications; about 170 of these are in the area of the psychology of wellbeing. His work has appeared in journals such as Psychological Science, American Psychologist, and Psychological Inquiry, to name a few. Diener was the editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology from 1998 to 2003 and is an editor of Journal of Happiness Studies. Additionally, Diener is the founding editor of Perspectives on Psychological Science. He has co-edited three recent books on subjective wellbeing: Wellbeing: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology, Advances in Quality of Life Studies, and Culture and Subjective Wellbeing. In 2005, Diener co-edited a book on multimethod measurement in psychology. Currently, he is writing a book on popular happiness with his son, Robert Biswas-Diener, as well as a book on policy uses of national accounts of wellbeing.

Diener is past president of both the International Society of Quality of Life Studies and the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. He is a fellow of five professional societies, including the American Psychological Society, American Psychological Association, International Society of Quality of Life Studies, Society of Personality and Social Psychology, and Society of Experimental Psychology.

Diener earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from California State University at Fresno and his doctorate in personality psychology from the University of Washington. He is listed as one of the highly cited psychologists by the Institute of Scientific Information, with more than 11,000 citations to his credit. Diener received the 2000 Distinguished Researcher Award from the International Society of Quality of Life Studies. Additionally, he has received several teaching awards, including the OakleyKundee Award for Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Illinois, the Psi Chi undergraduate award, the Mabel Hohenboken Teaching Development Award, and the Panhellenic Teaching Appreciation Award.

Learn More

• Dr. Diener's Web site: http://www.psych.uiuc.edu/~ediener/