Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D.
William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Mindfulness and Education: Cultivating Emotional Intelligence
In his best-selling 2012 book The Emotional Life of Your Brain, Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, describes his initiation into vipassana meditation as a young Harvard graduate student living in India in the early 1970s: “I had directly experienced a tectonic change in how I perceived the world, shaking off the concept of pain as if it were no more than a speck of lint on my shirt, and cultivating a deep and lasting sense of contentment in the moment.” With this realization decades ago, Davidson, a pioneer in the field of affective neuroscience studying emotion and emotion regulation, set his feet to the path of linking mindfulness to science.
Davidson’s identification of the neural bases of emotion and emotional styles, along with his development of the hybrid discipline of contemplative neuroscience, places him squarely at the “Center for Investigating Healthy Minds,” which is the name of his University of Wisconsin research facility, The Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) is the first research facility in the world to house both a brain imaging lab and meditation space under one roof. CIHM opened in 2010, blessed and funded by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Davidson’s work on the brain mechanisms underpinning compassion, empathy, and altruism has led to groundbreaking forays into “kindness curriculum” research and development. His work is at the leading investigative edge of using mental training to lessen emotional reactivity while enhancing attention and pro-social behavior.
Event Sponsors
- Compass Health Center
- Karen Malkin Health Consulting
- Martin and Mary L. Boyer Foundation
- Mindfulness and Behavior Therapies Program at The Family Institute at Northwestern University
- New Trier High School D203
- North Shore Community Bank
- Northwestern Integrative Medicine (NIM)
- The Book Stall
- Tina & Byron Trott

Upcoming Events
After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People
Michael Geruso, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin
Katy Milkman, Ph.D.
James G. Dinan Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
ON ZOOM
Having It All: What Data Tells Us About Women’s Lives and Getting the Most Out of Yours
Corinne Low, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Jessica Calarco, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
ON ZOOM
Mastery: Why Deeper Learning is Essential in an Age of Distraction
Tony Wagner, Ed.D.
Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute and bestselling author
Ulrik Juul Christensen, MD
Chief Strategist at the Area9 Group
Fernande Raine, Ph.D.
Historian, Social Entrepreneur, and Founder and Co-Lead of History Co:Lab
ON ZOOM