Paul Ekman, PhD

Paul Ekman, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus in Psychology at UCSF, is the world’s foremost expert in facial expressions and a professor emeritus at the University of California Medical School in San Francisco. He is the author of 16 books, including Emotions Revealed and Telling Lies and, most recently, Emotional Awareness, a conversation between himself and the Dalai Lama. Ekman began his studies as an undergrad at the University of Chicago and New York University. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Adelphi University (1958) after a one-year internship at the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute. Following two years as 1st Lieutenant and Chief Psychologist at Fort Dix, N.J., he returned to UCSF, where he worked from 1960 to 2004. Ekman’s research on facial expression and body movement began in 1954 and became the subject of his Master’s Thesis and first publication. Early work was influenced by semiotics and ethology, and he focused primarily on gestures, but by the mid-60’s Ekman turned to the face and emotion, initiating a series of cross-cultural studies of expression and gesture. These studies led to the recognition that there are seven universally expressed emotions: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, contempt, surprise, and happiness. For decades, Dr. Ekman has been studying human emotion and expression, particularly as it relates to truthfulness and how people can improve their awareness of others. When Ekman retired from the University of California in 2004, after more than thirty years as a full professor, he decided to translate his research findings into training tools, workshops, and books that could be of help to the general public. He authored “EMOTIONS REVEALED: Understanding Faces and Feelings to Improve Emotional Life”. At that time, The Paul Ekman Group (PEG, LLC.) was formed, and interactive training tools and workshops were developed. Learn more at paulekman.com.