Jennifer Aaker
Jennifer Aaker
The General Atlantic Professor
Research Interests
- Choice Shaped by Meaning and Purpose
- The Intersection of Money, Time, and Happiness
- Artificial Intelligence and Mixed Reality Technologies and Human Interaction
Bio
Dr. Jennifer Aaker, General Atlantic Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, is a renowned behavioral scientist and leading expert on how purpose and meaning shape individual choices and how technology can impact human well-being. Dr. Aaker is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award, the MBA Professor of the Year Award, and the Paul D. Converse Award, and her research is widely published in top journals and featured in The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and Science. Dr. Aaker’s award-winning books, including Humor, Seriously, and The Dragonfly Effect, have become global bestsellers in over 20 languages. Her classes Designing for AI to Cultivate Human Well-Being, Sustainable Human Behavior, Humor: Serious Business, Rethinking Purpose, Power of Story, and New Type of Leader.
Dr. Aaker’s research has had a profound impact helping leaders and organizations harness the power of purpose, story, and joy to positively influence human well-being through business practices, technology and leadership. She loves teaching new courses - from Designing for AI to Cultivate Human Well-Being, Sustainable Human Behavior, Humor: Serious Business, Rethinking Purpose, Power of Story, and New Type of Leader - where she learns as much as she teaches. She serves on the boards of the Obama Presidential Foundation Advisory Board, Decarbonization + Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ), Stephen & Ayesha Curry Eat. Learn. Play Foundation, Thrive Advisory Scientific Board. Personally, she is an early adopter of the trailblazing “family sabbatical” practice of moving her family to far-flung locations to become citizens of the world. From an achievement perspective; her abbreviated cooking skills have earned her family Doordash Platinum status.
For more on her recent work, see this Stanford piece and visit her Stanford research page.
Academic Degrees
- PhD in Marketing, PhD Minor in Psychology, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1995
- BA in Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, 1989
- General Atlantic Chair, 2005-present
- Xerox Distinguished Chair in Knowledge, 2007–09
Academic Appointments
- The General Atlantic Professor, Stanford GSB, 2005-present
- Xerox Distinguished Professor, Haas School of Business UC Berkeley, 2007–08
- Thomas W. Tusher Professor, Haas School of Business UC Berkeley, 2006–07
- Professor, Stanford GSB, 2004–05
- Associate Professor, Stanford GSB, 2001–04
- Assistant Professor, Stanford GSB, 1999–2001
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Columbia Graduate School of Business, Fall 1998
- Assistant Professor, Anderson Graduate School of Management UCLA, 1995–99
Awards and Honors
- Paul D. Converse Award, 2024
- Nobel Nomination Panel for the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, 2019–present
- General Atlantic Chair, 2005–present
- Coulter Family Fellow, 2020–21
- MBA Professor of the Year, Poets & Quants, 2019–20
- Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award, Society for Consumer Psychology, 2014
- Ormond Family Faculty Fellow, 2013
- Robert K. Jaedicke Silver Apple Award, 2011
- Winnick Family Faculty Fellow, 2011
- Ferber Award – JCR for “The Time versus Money Effect” Hon. Mention, 2010
- Best Paper Award – JCR for “When Good Brands Do Bad”, 2007
- Best Paper Award – Stanley Reiter for “Bringing the Frame into Focus”, 2007
- Thomas W. Tusher Chair of Global Business, 2006–07
- Best Paper Award – JCR for "Can Mixed Emotions Peacefully Co-Exist?”, 2005
- A. Michael Spence Faculty Scholar, 2003–04
- Early Career Award for Outstanding Research, Society of Consumer Psychology, 2003
- Outstanding Reviewer Award, Journal of Consumer Research, 2002, 2003, 2004
- Fletcher Jones Faculty Research Scholar, 2000–01
- Distinguished Teaching Award, Stanford GSB, 2000
- Marketing Science Institute Grant, 2000
- Citibank Best Teacher Award, UCLA, 1999
- CIBER International Research Grant, 1996–99
- UCLA Academic Senate Grant, 1995–99
- George Robbins Best Teacher Award, UCLA, 1998
- Hong Kong Science International Research Grant, 1997–98
- AMA Dissertation Award (Finalist), 1996
- Merit Fellowship, Jaedicke Scholar; Stanford GSB; 1993–94
- Psi Chi National Honorary Society in Psychology, 1989
Publications
Journal Articles
Books
Working Papers
Teaching
Degree Courses
Executive Education & Other Non-Degree Programs
Stanford Case Studies
Conferences, Talks & Speaking Engagements
Stanford GSB Affiliations
- Faculty Affiliate Golub Capital Social Impact Lab