Thomas Gilovich

Thomas Dashiff Gilovich (born 1954) is the Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. He has conducted research in social psychology, decision making, behavioral economics, and has written popular books on these subjects. Gilovich has collaborated with Daniel Kahneman, Richard Nisbett, Lee Ross and Amos Tversky. His articles in peer-reviewed journals on subjects such as cognitive biases have been widely cited. In addition, Gilovich has been quoted in the media on subjects ranging from the effect of purchases on happiness to perception of judgment in social situations.

Early history and education

Gilovich earned his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and went to Stanford University originally wanting to be a lawyer. After taking psychology classes and hearing Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman give a lecture about judgment and decision making there, he decided he wanted to go into the field of psychology. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford in 1981.