Ellen Langer

Ellen Jane Langer (/ˈlæŋər/; born March 25, 1947) is an American professor of psychology at Harvard University; it has been claimed that in 1981, she became the first woman ever to be tenured in psychology at Harvard, although this is not accepted in all circles. She is widely known as the "mother of mindfulness" and the "mother of positive psychology". Langer studies the illusion of control, decision-making, aging, and mindfulness theory. Her most influential work is Counterclockwise, published in 2009, the first test of her mind/body unity theory. Her most recent book, The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health, published in 2023, argues for the enormous control we have over our health based on mind/body unity.