Ellen Langer is a social psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, widely recognised as the pioneer of Western mindfulness. She was the first woman ever tenured in Harvard’s Department of Psychology and has spent more than 45 years studying the powerful relationship between mind and body.
Langer’s groundbreaking research on mindfulness, the illusion of control, aging, decision-making, and well-being has been published in over 200 scholarly articles. Often referred to as the “mother of mindfulness,” she has authored six influential books, beginning with her best-seller Mindfulness and most recently The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health, which weaves together personal insights with decades of empirical research.
Her work centers on what she calls “active mindfulness”, a way of paying attention that is open, flexible, and deeply engaged with the present moment. At the Langer Lab at Harvard, her team explores the applications of mindfulness across diverse domains including health, happiness, decision-making, education, business, and culture. Unlike meditation-based approaches, Langer’s mindfulness is grounded in rigorous scientific study, demonstrating how a mindful mindset can profoundly influence health, relationships, creativity, and longevity. Her contributions have earned her numerous distinctions, among them a Guggenheim Fellowship, the APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest, the James McKeen Cattell Award, and the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize.
Langer received her Ph.D. in Social and Clinical Psychology from Yale University and joined the Harvard faculty in 1977. She is a Fellow of the Sloan Foundation, the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and several other scholarly societies. Her work has had global impact, and she has lectured throughout the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Germany, and Argentina.
