Sheena Iyengar

Sheena S. Iyengar is the S.T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Department at Columbia Business School,[1][2] widely and best known as an expert on choice.[3][4][5] Her research focuses on the many facets of decision making, including: why people want choice, what affects how and what we choose, and how we can improve our decision making.[2][6] She has presented TED talks on choice[7] and is the author of The Art of Choosing (2010).[8]

Sheena S. Iyengar
Photo of Sheena Iyengar
Iyengar at Columbia Business School
Born
Sheena Sethi

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NationalityAmerican
Alma materStanford University
University of Pennsylvania
OccupationS.T. Lee Professor of Business
EmployerColumbia Business School
Known forAcademic research on Choice
Books: Art of Choosing 2010, Think Bigger 2023
Websitesheenaiyengar.com

Early life and education

Iyengar was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[8]: xi  Her parents were immigrants from Delhi,[9] India.[8]: xi–xii  As a child, she was diagnosed with a rare form of retinitis pigmentosa,[8]: xii  an inherited disease of retinal degeneration. By the age of nine, she could no longer read.[6] By the age of sixteen, she was completely blind,[6] although able to perceive light.[8]: xii  She remains blind as an adult.[5]

Iyengar's father died of a heart attack when she was thirteen.[8]: xii–xiii  This change in family circumstances, and Iyengar's loss of vision, prompted Iyengar's mother to steer her towards higher education and self-sufficiency, saying to Iyengar: "I don't want to hear about men or boys, you've got to stand on your own two feet."[10]

In 1992, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School and a B.A. in psychology from the College of Arts and Sciences.[11] She then earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Stanford University in 1997.[11]

For her dissertation "Choice and its Discontents," Iyengar received the Best Dissertation Award for 1998 from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology.[12]

Academic career

Iyengar's first faculty appointment was at the Sloan School of Management at MIT from July 1997 to June 1998.[11] In 1998, Iyengar joined the faculty at the Columbia Business School, starting as an assistant professor.[11] She has been a full professor at Columbia from July 2007 onward and, since November 2009, the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business.[11][12]

Her principal line of research concerns the psychology of choice, and she has been studying how people perceive and respond to choice since the 1990s.[13] She has authored or coauthored over 30 journal articles.[2] Her research and statements have been cited often in the print media,[14] including by Bloomberg Business Week,[15] CityLab,[16] Money Magazine,[17] The New York Times,[13] and The Washington Post.[18] Media appearances include The Diane Rehm Show[19] (NPR), Marketplace[20] (APM).

Iyengar was the recipient of the 2001 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers[21] for, as the NSF said, "helping lead to a better understanding of how cultural, individual, and situational dimensions of human decision-making can be used to improve people's lives."[22] In 2011, Iyengar was named a member of the Thinkers50,[4] a global ranking of the top 50 management thinkers.[23] In 2012, she was awarded the Dean's Award for Outstanding Core Teaching from Columbia Business School.[24]

Non-academic works
Photo of Sheena Iyengar and other authors shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award
Sheena Iyengar (center) and other authors shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award

In addition to the journal articles mentioned above, Iyengar has written non-academic articles, including for CNN[25][26] and Slate,[27] and many book chapters.[11] She has also presented two TED talks: "The Art of Choosing" (2010) and "How to Make Choosing Easier" (2012).[7]

The book she is most known for,[5] The Art of Choosing (2010),[8] explores the mysteries of choice in everyday life. It was listed third in Amazon's top ten books in Business & Investing of 2010[28] and was shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.[29]

In the Afterword of the 2011 edition of The Art of Choosing, Iyengar distills one aspect of her work explaining and advocating for choice, arguing for people to take responsibility for their lives and not rely on a supposed fate determined by some "greater force out there."[8]: 270  She says: "Choice allows us to be architects of our future."[8]: 270 

In 2023, Iyengar published her second book titled Think Bigger: How to Innovate.

Personal life

Iyengar is divorced from Garud Iyengar, another Columbia University professor. She lives in New York City and shares custody of their son, Ishaan.[13]

See also

References
  1. "Mount Holyoke Biography -- Sheena S. Iyengar". Mount Holyoke. Mount Holyoke College. 2012-04-18. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  2. "Sheena S. Iyengar -- Columbia Business School Directory". Columbia Business School. Columbia University. 2014-09-15. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  3. "Five Questions on Choosing for ... Sheena Iyengar". Graduate Management News. Graduate Management Admission Council. May 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  4. "Sheena Iyengar 2011 Ranked Thinker #48". Thinkers50. Thinkers50 Limited. 2011. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  5. Fensom, Michael (26 March 2018). "Take 5: Sheena Iyengar, author and expert on choice". Inside Jersey Magazine. New Jersey On-Line LLC. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  6. Carter, Andrea (22 October 2012). "Take 5: Sheena Iyengar, author and expert on choice". Poets & Quants. Poets & Quants, Inc. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  7. "Sheena Iyengar, Psycho-economist". TED. TED. 22 October 2012. Archived from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  8. Iyengar, Sheena (March 2011) [First published 2010]. The Art of Choosing. New York, NY, USA: Twelve. ISBN 978-0-446-50411-9.
  9. "Sheena Iyengar (Preview)". SCRIBD. Scribd Inc. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  10. McHugh, Fionnuala (26 May 2016). "Professor Sheena Iyengar on choice that changed her life". South China Morning Post. South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  11. "Sheena Iyengar, S.T. Lee Professor of Business: Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Columbia Business School. Columbia University. 7 January 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  12. "Sheena Iyengar". Social Psychology Network. Social Psychology Network. 21 December 2009. Archived from the original on 5 December 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  13. Penelope, Green (17 March 2010). "An Expert on Choice Chooses". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  14. "Sheena Iyengar Media Coverage". Sheena Iyengar. Sheena Iyengar. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  15. Brady, Diane (31 December 2012). "New Year's Resolutions in 140 Characters or Fewer". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  16. Hess, Amanda (29 June 2012). "Is Your City Making You Single?". Bloomberg. The Atlantic Monthly Group. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  17. Wang, Penelope (2 June 2010). "How to make better investment choices". CNNMoney. Cable News Network. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  18. Morin, Richard (8 February 2006). "Congressional Influence Hits Home". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  19. "Sheena Iyengar: "The Art of Choosing"". The Diane Rehm Show. American University Radio. 3 March 2010. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  20. Herships, Sally (10 June 2011). "More choices doesn't always mean a better deal". Marketplace. Minnesota Public Radio. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  21. "2001 Presidential Early Career Awards Announced". The White House, President George W. Bush. The White House, President George W. Bush. 26 June 2002. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  22. "Business' Iyengar Receives National Science Foundation Award for Study of Perception of Choice". Columbia News. Columbia University. 18 September 2002. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  23. "About Thinkers50". Thinkers50. Thinkers50 Limited. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  24. "Faculty Members Recognized for Core Course Teaching". Columbia Business School. Columbia University. 17 October 2012. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  25. Iyengar, Sheena (5 May 2010). "Assisted suicide and 'free choice'". CNN. Cable News Network. Archived from the original on 16 December 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  26. Iyengar, Sheena (11 March 2011). "The 'Michigan fish test' and the Middle East". CNN. Cable News Network. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  27. Iyengar, Sheena (1 June 2010). "Why the Soda Tax Makes Us Angry". Slate. The Slate Group. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  28. "Sheena Iyengar tp Speak at Fifth Annual Spirit of Women in Business (SWIB) Conference". Kent State University. Kent State University. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  29. "Shortlist Announced for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2010". Financial Times. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
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