Sheena Iyengar

Sheena Iyengar, the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, has established herself as a world-renowned expert on choice and decision-making. Growing up as a blind Indian American and daughter of immigrants in New York City, she began studying choice during her undergraduate years at the Wharton School, where she earned degrees in Economics and Psychology. Her academic journey continued at Stanford University, where her dissertation "Choice and its Discontents" won the Best Dissertation Award. Her groundbreaking research spans various contexts, from employee motivation at Citigroup to consumer behavior at Godiva and retirement benefit plans, culminating in her bestselling book "The Art of Choosing," which received the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year award. Her work has earned numerous accolades, including the Presidential Early Career Award, membership in the Thinkers50 global ranking, and the Dean's Award for Outstanding Core Teaching from Columbia Business School. Through her innovative "Think Bigger" course, she developed a six-step method incorporating neurological and cognitive science principles for optimal decision-making. Her research regularly appears in prestigious publications like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Economist, while her TED Talks have garnered millions of views, establishing her as a leading voice in understanding how humans navigate choice in an increasingly complex world.