ABOUT ANGELA

Angela Duckworth is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and faculty co-director of the Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative.

A 2013 MacArthur Fellow, Angela has advised the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams, and Fortune 500 CEOs.

Prior to her career in research, Angela founded an academic enrichment program for low-income children that was profiled as a Harvard Kennedy School case study and today serves as many as 750 students each year. She has also been a McKinsey management consultant and a math and science teacher at public schools in New York City, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Angela co-founded Character Lab, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing scientific insights that help children thrive.

Angela completed her undergraduate degree in Advanced Studies Neurobiology at Harvard, graduating magna cum laude. With the support of a Marshall Scholarship, she completed an MSc with Distinction in Neuroscience from Oxford University. She completed her PhD in Psychology as a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.

Angela's TED talk is among the most viewed of all time. Her first book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance is a #1 New York Times best seller. Her second book is Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best.

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • Angela teaches Grit Lab and Leading With Grit. If you are a current Penn or Wharton undergraduate, or a current Wharton MBA student, check the Penn Registrar for details. There are no volunteer opportunities at present in my lab, but with further questions, or for being included in a volunteer waiting list, please contact Paolo Terni (pterni@sas.upenn.edu) with further questions, or to be added to our volunteer waitlist.

  • At present, my lab is full! I am not currently accepting new students.

  • Please contact Whitney Peeling (whitney@broadsidepr.com)

  • For universities and nonprofits, please contact info@angeladuckworth.com. For paid speaking engagements, please contact my agent, David Lavin, at dlavin@thelavinagency.com or 416-595-2165. Please note that Angela is limiting her speaking engagements to make more time for research and teaching.

  • Please contact Lyndsey Blessing (lyndsey@inkwellmanagement.com).

  • A wise psychologist (named Danny Kahneman) shared his rules for endorsing books, which Angela has adapted to the following. First, only endorse books you have the time to read cover to cover. Second, only endeavor to read books that are meaningfully connected to your current work. These two rules mean that Angela probably cannot help—but kudos to you…writing a book is one of the most heroic things anyone can do!

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Press materials—including high-resolution headshots, book covers, and bio—are available via the press kit on Dropbox.