Biography
Robert J. Sternberg is Professor of Psychology in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University. He also is Honorary Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University, Germany. He was previously President and Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Wyoming. Before that, he was Provost, Senior Vice President, Regents Professor of Psychology and Education, and George Kaiser Family Foundation Chair of Ethical Leadership at Oklahoma State University. He was previously Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology and Education at Tufts University, and before that, IBM Professor of Psychology and Education, Professor of Management, and Director of the Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise at Yale University.
Sternberg's Google h index is 237, his i-10 index 1237, and his total citations exceed 241,000.
Sternberg's main research interests are in intelligence, creativity, wisdom, thinking styles, teaching and learning, love, jealousy, envy, and hate.
His most recent books are Transformational creativity (2024, Palgrave--with Karami), Giftedness in childhood (2023, Cambridge--with Desmet), The hidden talents model (2023, Cambridge--with Ellis, Abrams, Masten, Tottenham, & Frankenhuis), and the Palgrave handbook of transformational giftedness for education (2022, Palgrave--with Ambrose and Karami).
He is a Past President of the American Psychological Association, the Eastern Psychological Association, Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, as well as Treasurer of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. He has been Editor of Perspectives on Psychological Science, Psychological Bulletin, and The APA Review of Books: Contemporary Psychology. He holds 13 honorary doctorates and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education.
His awards include:
Stern Award from Wroclaw University, Poland, 2023; Florence L. Denmark Award for Significant Contributions to Psychology, Psychology Department, Pace University, 2019; Grawemeyer Award in Psychology, 2018; William James Fellow Award, Association for Psychological Science, 2017; Ernest R. Hilgard Award for Lifetime Contributions to General Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division of General Psychology (1), 2017; Distinguished Service Award, International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, 2011; Presidential Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to the Public Understanding of Psychology, American Psychological Association Division of Media Psychology (46), 2008; Sir Francis Galton Award, International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, 2008; E. Paul Torrance Award, National Association for Gifted Children, 2006; Interamerican Psychologist Award, Interamerican Society of Psychology, 2005; Arnheim Award, Division of Psychology and the Arts (10) of the American Psychological Association, 2005; Anton Jurovsky Award, Slovak Psychological Society, 2004; Arthur W. Staats Award, American Psychological Foundation and the Society for General Psychology (American Psychological Association Division 1), 2003; Farnsworth Award, Division of Psychology and the Arts (10) of the American Psychological Association, 2003; E. L. Thorndike Career Achievement Award, Division of Educational Psychology (15) of the American Psychological Association, 2003; Positive Psychology Network Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award, 2002; Outstanding Academic Title, CHOICE (American Library Association) for International handbook of giftedness and talent, co-editor, 2001; Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award, Connecticut Psychological Association, 1999; Palmer O. Johnson Award, American Educational Research Association, 1999; James McKeen Cattell Award, Association for Psychological Science, 1999; Distinción of Honor SEK, Institución Educativa SEK, Madrid, 1997; Sylvia Scribner Award, American Educational Research Association (Division C), 1996; International Award, Association of Portuguese Psychologists, 1991; Award for Excellence, Mensa Education and Research Foundation (MERF), 1989; Citation Classic Designation, Institute for Scientific Information for Intelligence, information processing, and analogical reasoning: The componential analysis of human abilities, 1987; Outstanding Book Award, American Educational Research Association for Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence, 1987; Research Review Award, American Educational Research Association (co-recipient), 1986; Distinguished Scholar Award, the National Association for Gifted Children, 1985; Cattell Award, Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology, 1982; Boyd R. McCandless Young Scientist Award, Division of Developmental Psychology (7) of the American Psychological Association, 1982; Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology, American Psychological Association, 1981; Sidney Siegel Memorial Award, Stanford University, 1975; Wohlenberg Prize, Berkeley College, Yale University, 1972.
He is a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also is a member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists.
In 2024, research.com ranked Sternberg #7 among American psychologists and #15 among psychologists in the world for scientific impact; he was also listed as #366 in the United States and #561 in the world for all scientists in all fields by research.com (based on h-indices from Microsoft Academic Graph). He has been listed as the #1 lifetime ranking in the field of Human Development and Family Studies by ScholarGPS, 2023; https://scholargps.com/scholars/62053591962903/robert-j-sternberg. He also has been listed as one of the “The 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists” by The Best Schools, 2018, https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-psychologists-world/; listed as one of the “Top 33 Psychologists for Psychology Textbook Citations”, Griggs & Christopher, Teaching of Psychology, 2016, 43(2), p. 114 (ranked #5); listed as one of the “Top 100 Psychologists of the 20th Century,” APA Monitor, July/August 2002, p. 29 (ranked #60); listed as one of the 200 most eminent psychologists of the modern (Post World-War II) era by Diener, Oishi, Park survey in Archives of Scientific Psychology (ranked #61); ISI Highly Cited List in Psychology/Psychiatry (2003–) (based on scientific citations 1981–1999); Listed in the Esquire Register recognizing the achievements of outstanding American men and women under 40, 1986; Listed as one of the 100 “Top Young Scientists in the U.S.,” Science Digest, 1984.
His fellowships and scholarships include Fulbright Senior Specialist Fellowship to Slovakia, 2005; IREX Visiting Scholar Fellowship to Russia, 2000; Honored Visitor Fellowship, Taiwan National Science Council, December 1998; Sir Edward Youde Memorial Visiting Professor, City University of Hong Kong December, 1997; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, 1985–1986; Yale Senior Faculty Fellowship, 1982–1983; Yale Junior Faculty Fellowship, 1978–1979; National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1972–1975; National Merit Scholarship, 1968–1972.