{"history":[],"article":{"id":"835dcae7-4613-4457-935f-889f71693fb9","title":"Sheena Iyengar","slug":"sheena-iyengar","content":":::summary\n![Iyengar at Columbia Business School](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Sheena///Iyengar.jpg)\n**Name:** Sheena S. Iyengar \n**Birth Name:** Sheena Sethi \n**Birth Place:** [Toronto](https://bliptext.com/articles/toronto), [Ontario](https://bliptext.com/articles/ontario), Canada \n**Nationality:** American \n**Alma Mater:** [Stanford University](https://bliptext.com/articles/stanford-university) · [University of Pennsylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/university-of-pennsylvania) \n**Occupation:** S.T. Lee Professor of Business \n**Employer:** [Columbia Business School](https://bliptext.com/articles/columbia-business-school) \n**Known For:** Academic research on [Choice](https://bliptext.com/articles/choice) Books: Art of Choosing 2010, Think Bigger 2023 \n:::\n\n# \n**Sheena S. Iyengar** is the S.T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Department at [Columbia Business School](https://bliptext.com/articles/columbia-business-school), widely and best known as an expert on choice.\nHer research focuses on the many facets of decision making, including: why people want choice, what affects how and what we choose, and how we can improve our decision making.\nShe has presented [TED](https://bliptext.com/articles/ted-conference) talks on choice and is the author of [The Art of Choosing](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-art-of-choosing) (2010).\n\n# Early life and education\nIyengar was born in [Toronto](https://bliptext.com/articles/toronto), [Ontario](https://bliptext.com/articles/ontario), Canada.\nHer parents were immigrants from [Delhi](https://bliptext.com/articles/delhi), [India](https://bliptext.com/articles/india).\nAs a child, she was diagnosed with a rare form of [retinitis pigmentosa](https://bliptext.com/articles/retinitis-pigmentosa), an inherited disease of retinal degeneration.\nBy the age of nine, she could no longer read.\nBy the age of sixteen, she was completely blind, although able to perceive light.\nShe remains blind as an adult.\nIyengar's father died of a heart attack when she was thirteen.\nThis change in family circumstances, and Iyengar's loss of vision, prompted Iyengar's mother to steer her towards higher education and self-sufficiency, saying to Iyengar: \"I don't want to hear about men or boys, you've got to stand on your own two feet.\"\nIn 1992, she graduated from the [University of Pennsylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/university-of-pennsylvania) with a B.S. in economics from the [Wharton School](https://bliptext.com/articles/wharton-school) and a B.A. in psychology from the College of Arts and Sciences.\nShe then earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from [Stanford University](https://bliptext.com/articles/stanford-university) in 1997.\nFor her dissertation \"Choice and its Discontents,\" Iyengar received the Best Dissertation Award for 1998 from the [Society of Experimental Social Psychology](https://bliptext.com/articles/society-of-experimental-social-psychology).\n\n# Academic career\nIyengar's first faculty appointment was at the [Sloan School of Management](https://bliptext.com/articles/sloan-school-of-management) at [MIT](https://bliptext.com/articles/mit) from July 1997 to June 1998.\nIn 1998, Iyengar joined the faculty at the Columbia Business School, starting as an assistant professor.\nShe has been a full professor at Columbia from July 2007 onward and, since November 2009, the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business.\nHer principal line of research concerns the psychology of choice, and she has been studying how people perceive and respond to choice since the 1990s.\nShe has authored or coauthored over 30 journal articles.\nHer research and statements have been cited often in the print media,\nincluding by Bloomberg Business Week,\nCityLab,\nMoney Magazine, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.\nMedia appearances include The Diane Rehm Show\n([NPR](https://bliptext.com/articles/npr)), Marketplace\n([APM](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-public-media)).\nIyengar was the recipient of the 2001 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers\nfor, as the [NSF](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-science-foundation) said, \"helping lead to a better understanding of how cultural, individual, and situational dimensions of human decision-making can be used to improve people's lives.\"\nIn 2011, Iyengar was named a member of the Thinkers50, a global ranking of the top 50 management thinkers. In 2012, she was awarded the Dean's Award for Outstanding Core Teaching from Columbia Business School.\n\n# Non-academic works\nIn addition to the journal articles mentioned above, Iyengar has written non-academic articles, including for [CNN](https://bliptext.com/articles/cnn)\n and [Slate](https://bliptext.com/articles/slate-magazine),\nand many book chapters.\nShe has also presented two [TED](https://bliptext.com/articles/ted-conference) talks: \"The Art of Choosing\" (2010) and \"How to Make Choosing Easier\" (2012).\nThe book she is most known for, The Art of Choosing (2010), explores the mysteries of choice in everyday life.\nIt was listed third in Amazon's top ten books in Business & Investing of 2010\nand was shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.\nIn the Afterword of the 2011 edition of The Art of Choosing, Iyengar distills one aspect of her work explaining and advocating for choice, arguing for people to take responsibility for their lives and not rely on a supposed fate determined by some \"greater force out there.\"\nShe says: \"Choice allows us to be architects of our future.\"\nIn 2023, Iyengar published her second book titled Think Bigger: How to Innovate.\n# [Sheena Iyengar (center) and other authors shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/FT///and///Goldman///Sachs///Business///Book///of///the///Year///2010///short-listed///authors.jpg]\n\n# Personal life\nIyengar is divorced from Garud Iyengar, another Columbia University professor.\nShe lives in New York City and shares custody of their son, Ishaan.","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-26T12:17:27.243Z","updated_at":"2025-01-26T12:17:27.243Z","search_vector":"'iyengar':2 'sheena':1","search_content":" \n \n**Name:** Sheena S. Iyengar \n**Birth Name:** Sheena Sethi \n**Birth Place:** [Toronto](https://bliptext.com/articles/toronto), [Ontario](https://bliptext.com/articles/ontario), Canada \n**Nationality:** American \n**Alma Mater:** [Stanford University](https://bliptext.com/articles/stanford-university) · [University of Pennsylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/university-of-pennsylvania) \n**Occupation:** S.T. Lee Professor of Business \n**Employer:** [Columbia Business School](https://bliptext.com/articles/columbia-business-school) \n**Known For:** Academic research on [Choice](https://bliptext.com/articles/choice) Books: Art of Choosing 2010, Think Bigger 2023 \n \n\n# \n**Sheena S. Iyengar** is the S.T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Department at [Columbia Business School](https://bliptext.com/articles/columbia-business-school), widely and best known as an expert on choice.\nHer research focuses on the many facets of decision making, including: why people want choice, what affects how and what we choose, and how we can improve our decision making.\nShe has presented [TED](https://bliptext.com/articles/ted-conference) talks on choice and is the author of [The Art of Choosing](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-art-of-choosing) (2010). \n\n# Early life and education\nIyengar was born in [Toronto](https://bliptext.com/articles/toronto), [Ontario](https://bliptext.com/articles/ontario), Canada.\nHer parents were immigrants from [Delhi](https://bliptext.com/articles/delhi), [India](https://bliptext.com/articles/india).\nAs a child, she was diagnosed with a rare form of [retinitis pigmentosa](https://bliptext.com/articles/retinitis-pigmentosa), an inherited disease of retinal degeneration.\nBy the age of nine, she could no longer read.\nBy the age of sixteen, she was completely blind, although able to perceive light.\nShe remains blind as an adult.\nIyengar's father died of a heart attack when she was thirteen.\nThis change in family circumstances, and Iyengar's loss of vision, prompted Iyengar's mother to steer her towards higher education and self-sufficiency, saying to Iyengar: \"I don't want to hear about men or boys, you've got to stand on your own two feet.\"\nIn 1992, she graduated from the [University of Pennsylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/university-of-pennsylvania) with a B.S. in economics from the [Wharton School](https://bliptext.com/articles/wharton-school) and a B.A. in psychology from the College of Arts and Sciences.\nShe then earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from [Stanford University](https://bliptext.com/articles/stanford-university) in 1997.\nFor her dissertation \"Choice and its Discontents,\" Iyengar received the Best Dissertation Award for 1998 from the [Society of Experimental Social Psychology](https://bliptext.com/articles/society-of-experimental-social-psychology). \n\n# Academic career\nIyengar's first faculty appointment was at the [Sloan School of Management](https://bliptext.com/articles/sloan-school-of-management) at [MIT](https://bliptext.com/articles/mit) from July 1997 to June 1998.\nIn 1998, Iyengar joined the faculty at the Columbia Business School, starting as an assistant professor.\nShe has been a full professor at Columbia from July 2007 onward and, since November 2009, the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business.\nHer principal line of research concerns the psychology of choice, and she has been studying how people perceive and respond to choice since the 1990s.\nShe has authored or coauthored over 30 journal articles.\nHer research and statements have been cited often in the print media, \nincluding by Bloomberg Business Week, \nCityLab, \nMoney Magazine, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. \nMedia appearances include The Diane Rehm Show \n([NPR](https://bliptext.com/articles/npr)), Marketplace \n([APM](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-public-media)).\nIyengar was the recipient of the 2001 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers \nfor, as the [NSF](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-science-foundation) said, \"helping lead to a better understanding of how cultural, individual, and situational dimensions of human decision-making can be used to improve people's lives.\" \nIn 2011, Iyengar was named a member of the Thinkers50, a global ranking of the top 50 management thinkers. In 2012, she was awarded the Dean's Award for Outstanding Core Teaching from Columbia Business School. \n\n# Non-academic works\nIn addition to the journal articles mentioned above, Iyengar has written non-academic articles, including for [CNN](https://bliptext.com/articles/cnn) \n and [Slate](https://bliptext.com/articles/slate-magazine), \nand many book chapters.\nShe has also presented two [TED](https://bliptext.com/articles/ted-conference) talks: \"The Art of Choosing\" (2010) and \"How to Make Choosing Easier\" (2012).\nThe book she is most known for, The Art of Choosing (2010), explores the mysteries of choice in everyday life.\nIt was listed third in Amazon's top ten books in Business & Investing of 2010 \nand was shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award. \nIn the Afterword of the 2011 edition of The Art of Choosing, Iyengar distills one aspect of her work explaining and advocating for choice, arguing for people to take responsibility for their lives and not rely on a supposed fate determined by some \"greater force out there.\"\nShe says: \"Choice allows us to be architects of our future.\"\nIn 2023, Iyengar published her second book titled Think Bigger: How to Innovate.\n# [Sheena Iyengar (center) and other authors shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/FT///and///Goldman///Sachs///Business///Book///of///the///Year///2010///short-listed///authors.jpg]\n\n# Personal life\nIyengar is divorced from Garud Iyengar, another Columbia University professor.\nShe lives in New York City and shares custody of their son, Ishaan.","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}

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