Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely, a distinguished academic and author, became the Alfred P. Sloan professor of behavioral economics at MIT in 1998, a position he held until 2008. During this period, his pioneering research on irrational behaviors garnered significant recognition, including an Ig Nobel Prize in medicine in 2008 for his work demonstrating that ‘high-priced fake medicine is more effective than low-priced fake medicine.’ Ariely holds a psychology degree from Tel Aviv University (1991), a Master’s degree in Cognitive Psychology (1994), and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology (1996) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by a second Ph.D.

in Business Administration from Duke University in 1998. In 2008, he returned to Duke University as the James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioral economics, where he founded the Center for Advanced Hindsight, dedicated to researching the psychology of money, healthcare decision-making, cheating, and social justice. Building on his academic success, Ariely authored several New York Times best-selling books, beginning with ‘Predictably Irrational’ in 2008, followed by ‘The Upside of Irrationality’ in 2010, and ‘The Honest Truth about Dishonesty’ in 2012.

He also appeared in ‘The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley’ (2019) and the Hebrew television series ‘Why Like This? Lama Kacha’ in 2022. Most recently, his groundbreaking work in behavioral economics inspired the NBC television series ‘The Irrational,’ which premiered in September 2023, solidifying his impact across diverse media platforms.