James O. Pawelski, Ph.D.

James O. Pawelski, Ph.D., is professor of practice and director of education in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is also an adjunct professor of religious studies. A philosopher by training and a former Fulbright scholar, he is the founding director of Penn’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program and of the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project, a National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab from 2020 to 2025.

Pawelski has published dozens of academic articles and six books, including The Dynamic Individualism of William James, The Oxford Handbook of the Positive Humanities, and Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love That Lasts, written with his wife, Suzann Pileggi Pawelski, and he edits the Humanities and Human Flourishing book series for Oxford University Press. An award-winning teacher and international keynote speaker, he has given talks in English and Spanish in more than 25 countries on six continents, and with Pileggi Pawelski he gives keynotes and Relationship Gym workshops around the world and has developed popular positive psychology courses for Wondrium and Coursera. He is founding executive director emeritus and a board member of the International Positive Psychology Association, a board member of the International Positive Education Network, and a past president of the William James Society.