Daniel Wegner
| Daniel Wegner | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 28, 1948 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Died | July 5, 2013 (aged 65) Winchester, Massachusetts, United States |
| Residence | United States |
| Fields | Social Psychology |
| Institutions | Harvard University, Trinity University, University of Virginia |
| Alma mater | Michigan State University |
| Known for | ironic process theory, transactive memory, experimental study of free will |
Daniel Merton Wegner (June 28, 1948 – July 5, 2013) was an American social psychologist. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard University and a fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was known for applying experimental psychology to the topics of mental control (for example ironic process theory) and conscious will, and for originating the study of transactive memory and action identification. In The Illusion of Conscious Will and other works, he argued controversially that the human sense of free will is an illusion.
Wegner was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He enrolled in a physics degree at Michigan State University but changed to psychology, going on to an M.A. and then a PhD. After gaining his doctorate in 1974, he spent sixteen years teaching at Trinity University, becoming a full Professor in 1985. From 1990 to 2000, he researched and taught at the University of Virginia, after which he joined the faculty at Harvard University.
In 2011, Wegner was awarded the William James Fellow Award by the Association for Psychological Science, the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award by the American Psychological Association, and the Distinguished Scientist Award by the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. In 2012, he was awarded the Donald T. Campbell Award by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP). Furthermore, shortly after Wegner's death in 2013, SPSP announced that its annually awarded Theoretical Innovation Prize would henceforth be known as the Daniel M. Wegner Theoretical Innovation Prize to honor Wegner's memory and his innovative work.
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