Paul Ekman
| Paul Ekman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
February 15, 1934 (age 83) Washington, D.C. |
| Residence | United States |
| Fields |
Psychology Anthropology |
| Doctoral advisor | John Amsden Starkweather |
| Known for | Microexpressions, Lie to Me |
| Influences | Charles Darwin, Silvan Tomkins |
| Notable awards | Named by the American Psychological Association as one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century based on publications, citations and awards (2001) Honorary Degree, University of Fernando Pessoa, Portugal (2007) Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Adelphi University (2008) Honorary Degree, University of Geneva, Switzerland (2008) Named of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time Magazine (2009) Honorary Degree, Lund University, Sweden (2011) |
| Spouse | Mary Ann Mason, J.D., Ph.D. |
 Conversations with History: Paul Ekman on YouTube, University of California Television, 58:00, April 2008 |
Paul Ekman (born February 15, 1934) is an American psychologist who is a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. He has created an "atlas of emotions" with more than ten thousand facial expressions, and has gained a reputation as "the best human lie detector in the world".
He was ranked 59th out of the 100 most cited psychologists of the twentieth century. Ekman conducted seminal research on the specific biological correlations of specific emotions, demonstrating the universality and discreteness of emotions in a Darwinian approach.
Paul Ekman was born to Jewish parents in 1934 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, and California. His father was a pediatrician and his mother was an attorney. His sister, Joyce Steingart, is a psychoanalytic psychologist who before her retirement practiced in New York City.
Ekman originally wanted to be a psychotherapist, but when he was drafted into the army in 1958 he found that research could change army routines, making them more humane. This experience converted him from wanting to be a psychotherapist to wanting to be a researcher, in order to help as many people as possible.
At the age of 15, without graduating from high school, Paul Ekman enrolled at the University of Chicago where he completed three years of undergraduate study. During his time in Chicago he was fascinated by group therapy sessions and understanding group dynamics. Notably, his classmates at Chicago included writer Susan Sontag, film director Mike Nichols, and actress Elaine May.
He then studied two years at New York University (NYU), earning his BA in 1954. The subject of his first research project, under the direction of his NYU professor, Margaret Tresselt, was an attempt to develop a test of how people would respond to group therapy.
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