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Katherine L. Milkman
Alma materPrinceton University
Harvard University
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Pennsylvania
ThesisStudies of intrapersonal conflict and its implications (2009)
WebsiteKatherinemilkman.com

Katherine L. Milkman is an American economist who is the James G. Dinan endowed Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[1] She was previously the President of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making.[2]

Early life and education

Milkman originally considered working on Wall Street, and spent her college holidays interning at investment banks.[3] She was an undergraduate student at Princeton University, where she specialised in Operations Research and American studies.[4][5] She moved to Harvard University for her graduate studies and completed a doctorate in information and technology in 2009.[6]

Research and career

Milkman moved to the University of Pennsylvania, where she was made Assistant Professor. She was promoted to Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions in 2018. She studies how economics and psychology can be used to change behaviour, including opinions on exercise, vaccine take-up and discrimination.[4][7] Milkman makes use of big data to document this behavioural change in an effort to understand what results in failures of self-control.[8]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Milkman investigated the transmission of coronavirus disease, claiming that it relied on social habits that can be changed.[5] She used her understanding of vaccine hesitancy to encourage people to accept the COVID-19 vaccine.[9][10] She argued that getting people to wear masks would have been easier if people had considered them as fashion items as opposed to a burden.[11]

Awards and honors

  • 2015 Associations in Behavioural & Brain Sciences Early Career Award from the Federation[8]
  • 2017 Finalist for Thinkers50[12]
  • 2019 Society for Personality and Social Psychology Robert B. Cialdini Prize[13]
  • 2019 Elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science[14]
  • 2020 Forbes 10 Behavioural Scientists You Should Know[15]

Selected publications

Bibliography

  • Milklman, Katy (2021). How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. Ebury Publishing. ISBN 9781473593824.

References

  1. ^ Ross, Meghan (May 7, 2021). "Q&A with Dr. Katy Milkman, Author of New Book 'How to Change'". Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  2. ^ "Speaking with Katy Milkman about "How to Change" - By Elizabeth Weingarten". Behavioral Scientist. May 17, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  3. ^ Akker, Merle van den (October 19, 2020). "Interview with Katherine Milkman". Money on the Mind. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "A Moment with Penn's Katy Milkman: on Massive Field Experiments and Crossing Interdisciplinary Lines". Pattern Health. October 6, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Behavior Scientist Katy Milkman '04 On Small Ways to Keep COVID at Bay". Princeton Alumni Weekly. June 4, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  6. ^ Milkman, Katherine L (2009). Studies of intrapersonal conflict and its implications (Thesis). OCLC 472718737.
  7. ^ "WEBINAR: Behavior Change for Good". Wharton Club of Chicago. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Katherine Milkman | Behavioral Science & Policy Association". behavioralpolicy.org. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  9. ^ "Katy Milkman on how to nudge people to accept a covid-19 vaccine". The Economist. November 30, 2020. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  10. ^ "First, the challenge was developing a vaccine. Now, it's getting people to take it". KMGH. December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  11. ^ "What Can the Pandemic Teach Us About Mental Health?". Discover Magazine. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  12. ^ "Up and Comers". Thinkers50. October 23, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  13. ^ "Announcing the Winners of the SPSP Cialdini Prize, Wegner Prize, Diener Award in Personality Psychology & Diener Award in Social Psychology | SPSP". www.spsp.org. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  14. ^ "Katherine L. Milkman, PhD". LDI. October 17, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  15. ^ Holzwarth, Aline. "10 Behavioral Scientists You Should Know". Forbes. Retrieved December 24, 2020.