Biography

Dr. Elizabeth Dunn is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. She completed her undergraduate degree at Harvard College and received her PhD in 2004 from the University of Virginia. After spending a year in Sydney, Australia as a postdoctoral fellow, she came to UBC in 2005.

Dr. Dunn conducts experimental research on self-knowledge and happiness, with a current focus on how people can use their money more effectively to increase well-being. Her work has appeared in top journals, with two recent empirical papers published in Science.

She was selected as one of the “rising stars” in academia by the Chronicle of Higher Education in 2004 and was an honoree for the 2007 Mind Gym Academic Prize for pioneering work in positive psychology. In 2010, she received a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, as well as UBC’s Robert E. Knox Master Teacher Award.

Her research has been featured in hundreds of media outlets around the world, including The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, The London Times, Maclean’s, Time, and CNN. Dr. Dunn is also an avid surfer and skier.