Jennifer Aaker
The General Atlantic Professor
Taubman Family Faculty Fellow for 2025–2026
Academic Area:
Bio
Dr. Jennifer Aaker is the General Atlantic Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a behavioral scientist whose work centers on the most fundamental questions of human experience: what makes a life meaningful, how meaning and happiness diverge, and how the way we use time shapes both.
Her research on purpose, connection, and humor has earned the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award, the MBA Professor of the Year Award, and the Paul D. Converse Award, and has been published in top journals and featured in The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and Science. Her books, including Humor, Seriously and The Dragonfly Effect, are global bestsellers in over 20 languages.
She is also a trained death doula. Research on deathbed regret, she argues, is the clearest lens we have on what actually matters — authenticity, boldness, love. She brings that lens to leadership, technology, and the question AGI puts most urgently before us: not what AI can do, but what it means to be irreplaceably human. In 2017, she co-created Stanford’s pioneering course on AI for Human Flourishing with Fei-Fei Li and is building the Initiative on Human Flourishing at Stanford.
She serves on the boards of the Obama Presidential Foundation, Decarbonization + Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ), and Eat. Learn. Play., founded by Stephen and Ayesha Curry, and advises Google DeepMind’s seminar series on human flourishing in a post-AGI world.
Among her greatest personal accomplishments: winning a dance-off in the early 1980s.
Research Interests
- Choice Shaped by Meaning and Purpose
- The Intersection of Money, Time, and Happiness
- Artificial Intelligence and Mixed Reality Technologies and Human Interaction
Stanford GSB Affiliations
- Faculty Affiliate Golub Capital Social Impact Lab
- Faculty Affiliate Grousbeck-Holloway Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
- Faculty Affiliate Center for Social Innovation
Stanford University Affiliations
- Faculty Affiliate Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence
- Faculty Affiliate Dooer Sustainability School
Faculty Voices
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
Stanford GSB Professor Jennifer Aaker Wins 2024 Converse Award
Annual award honors exceptional scholarship in the field of marketing
Journal Articles
Working Papers
Books
A Global Look at the Connections Between Happiness, Income, and Meaning
Wealthy people may be happier. But a new study finds that money can’t buy a sense of purpose.
Degree Courses
Executive Education & Other Non-Degree Programs
Guide your organization through growth with innovative CFO training that blends financial expertise, strategic thinking, and leadership skills.
Gain general management training — combining conceptual knowledge with individual experiences — and increase your impact in the nonprofit sector.
Uplevel your leadership skills with this strategic storytelling course to help you cultivate empathy, convey purpose, and become a more authentic leader.
Start the next step in your personal and professional journey by experiencing Stanford GSB and Silicon Valley’s culture of innovation.
Lead with confidence in a world transformed by AI, innovation, and constant change.
Cases
Teaching Materials
Designing (for) Happiness
Human First: Designing Artificial Intelligence That Elevates Us
How can we expand what’s possible without losing what makes us human?
In the Media
Video highlights Dr. Aaker's research article, “Awe Expands People's Perception of Time, Alters Decision Making, and Enhances Well-being.”
Humor in the Workplace
Science Has Found a Trick to Get the Most out of Positive Thinking
Chasing Happiness? Find Your Purpose Instead
How to Find More Time
New research by Ioannis Evangelidis of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and co-authors Jordan Etkin (Duke University) and Jennifer Aaker (Stanford University), shows interfering goals make customers feel time-constraint.
Why, throughout human history, have people been so drawn to fiction?
Stanford research: The meaningful life is a road worth traveling
Seven Deadly Sins: Why do company stories come across as dry and flat?
Re-evaluating how you spend time could make you happier
How To Spend Time In Ways That Make You Happy
The Dragonfly Effect
Social Media New Technology
A Stanford Graduate School of Business Course Harnesses Social Media to Make a Difference
Emphasize Time Spent Rather than Money to Lure Customers
Charities Should Ask for Time Before Money, According to Stanford Business School Research
Insights by Stanford Business
School News
Videos and Podcasts
Class Takeaways — Sustainable Human Behavior
Five insights in five minutes: Professors Jennifer Aaker and Szu-chi Huang share strategies to help you lead a more sustainable and fulfilling life.
Class Takeaways — Humor is Serious Business
Five lessons in five minutes: Professor Jennifer Aaker and her team teach you how to make humor your superpower.