William Damon Biography

William Damon (born in Brockton, Massachusetts) is a Professor of Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, Director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He is one of the world's leading researchers on the development of purpose in life and the author of the widely influential book The Path to Purpose. Damon also helped develop innovative educational methods such as peer collaboration, project-based learning, and the youth charter. His current work includes a scientific study that explores the development of purpose and other psychological capacities and a study of how people find new purposes later in life. Dr. Damon writes on intellectual and social development through the lifespan. He is the founding editor of New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development and editor-in-chief of The Handbook of Child Psychology (1998 and 2006 editions). Damon has been elected to the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In January 2018, Damon was named one of "The 50 Most Influential Psychologists in the World".