Adam Grant


Faculty Affiliate, Center for Positive Organizations

The Saul P. Steinberg Professor of Management, University of Pennsylvania

Adam Grant is Wharton’s top-rated professor and a leading expert on how we can find motivation and meaning, and live more generous and creative lives. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 25 most influential management thinkers and Fortune’s 40 under 40.

He is the author of two New York Times bestselling books translated into 35 languages. Originals explores how individuals champion new ideas and leaders fight groupthink; it is a #1 national bestseller praised by J.J. Abrams, Richard Branson, Malcolm Gladwell, and Sheryl Sandberg. Give and Take examines why helping others drives our success, and was named one of the best books of 2013 by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal—as well as one of Oprah’s riveting reads and Harvard Business Review’s ideas that shaped management.

Adam received a standing ovation for his 2016 TED talk on the surprising habits of original thinkers and was voted the audience’s favorite speaker at The Nantucket Project on the success of givers and takers. His speaking and consulting clients include Facebook, Google, the NBA, Merck, Goldman Sachs, Pixar, the U.S. Army and Navy, and the World Economic Forum, where he has been honored as a Young Global Leader. He writes on work and psychology for the New York Times, where his articles on “Raising a moral child” and “How to raise a creative child” have each been shared over 300,000 times on social media.

Adam was profiled in The New York Times Magazine cover story, “Is giving the secret to getting ahead?” He was tenured at Wharton while still in his twenties, and has received the Excellence in Teaching Award for every class that he has taught. He is the founder and host of the Authors@Wharton speaker series, and co-director of Wharton People Analytics. He has designed experiential learning activities in which students have raised over $325,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation while developing leadership, influence, networking and collaboration skills. He is a passionate feminist who writes on women and work with Sheryl Sandberg, including “Speaking while female” and “Madam CEO, get me a coffee.” He serves on the Lean In board and the Defense Innovation Advisory Board at the Pentagon.

Adam earned his PhD in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan, completing it in less than three years, and his BA from Harvard University, magna cum laude with highest honors and Phi Beta Kappa honors. He has earned awards for distinguished scholarly achievement from the Academy of Management, the American Psychological Association, and the National Science Foundation. He has more than 60 publications in leading management and psychology journals, and his pioneering studies have increased performance and reduced burnout among engineers and sales professionals, enhanced call center productivity, and motivated safety behaviors among doctors, nurses and lifeguards. His studies have been highlighted in bestselling books such as Quiet by Susan Cain, Drive by Daniel Pink, and David and Goliath by Gladwell.