Author of Upside of Irrationality to Give Address

Dan Ariely ’94

Social scientist Dan Ariely ’94 (MA, ’96 PhD), the author of three New York Times best-selling books, will be the keynote speaker for Carolina’s 2013 doctoral hooding ceremony.

The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. May 11 at the Dean E. Smith Center.

Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, where his academic affiliations span business, cognitive neuroscience, economics and medicine. He received his master’s degree and doctorate in cognitive psychology from Carolina. He went on to receive a second doctorate in business administration from Duke.

Ariely is renowned for research that explains psychological processes determining day-to-day human decisions and for his effectiveness in communicating the possible implications of this human behavior. He is the author of a widely read Wall Street Journal column, called “Ask Ariely,” and is the author of three books: Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home and his most recent work, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone — Especially Ourselves.

Ariely also is the founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight, based at Duke, where research topics are as diverse as wealth distribution, dating behavior, health care and consumer decisions.

Before joining the Duke faculty, Ariely held academic appointments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1998-2008), the University of California at Berkeley (2001-02) and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (2005-07).