Amy Wrzesniewski


Faculty Affiliate, Center for Positive Organizations

William and Jacalyn Egan Professor, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania

Amy Wrzesniewski is the William and Jacalyn Egan Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her research explores how people make meaning of their work, with a focus on the impact meaning has on employees and the organizations in which they work. These meanings have implications for how employees shape their tasks, interactions and relationships with others in the workplace to change the meaning of the job.

Amy earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated magna cum laude with an honors degree in psychology. She received her PhD in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan.

Her research on the meaning of work has been published in a wide range of top academic journals and highlighted in several best-selling books and popular press outlets, including Forbes, Time, BusinessWeek, Harvard Business Review, U.S. News and World Report, and The Economist, as well as bestselling books such as Drive by Daniel Pink, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor, Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman, and The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler.