Richard Davidson

Richard Davidson
Rajesh Kasturirangan with the 14th Dalai Lama, Geshe Thupten Jinpa and Richard Davidson at Mind and Life Institute XXVI conference.
Born	(1951-12-12)December 12, 1951
Fields	Neuroscience, psychology
Institutions	University of Wisconsin–Madison
Alma mater	New York University Harvard University
Known for	Neurological effects of meditation
Influences	William James

Richard J. Davidson (born December 12, 1951) is professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as well as founder and chair of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center.

Born in Brooklyn, Richard "Richie" Davidson attended Midwood High School. While there, between 1968–1971, he worked as a summer research assistant in the sleep laboratory at nearby Maimonides Medical Center cleaning electrodes that had been affixed to subjects' bodies for sleep studies.

Davidson went on to receive his B.A. in Psychology from NYU (Heights) in 1972. He chose to study at Harvard University to work with Daniel Goleman and Gary Schwartz and gained his Ph.D. in Personality, Psychopathology, and Psychophysiology there in 1976. At Harvard, Davidson was mentored by David C. McClelland and was also influenced by Norman Geschwind and Walle J. H. Nauta.

In 1976 Davidson took a teaching post at the State University of New York at Purchase where he subsequently held several posts including research consultancies at the Department of Pediatrics, Infant Laboratory, Roosevelt Hospital, New York and the Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute on Aging, NIH.

In 1984 he joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he has since remained. He is currently Director of the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Director of the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, and the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, the final where he serves as Founder and Chair.