Author Details

Dr. Grant is an award-winning researcher and teacher on the faculty at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in organizational psychology and his B.A. from Harvard University magna cum laude with highest honors in psychology and Phi Beta Kappa honors. Dr. Grant’s research focuses on work motivation, job design, prosocial helping and giving behaviors, meaningful work, initiative and proactive behaviors, and employee well-being, with an emphasis on when and how “making a difference makes a difference”. His articles have been published in a wide range of leading management and psychology journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Research in Organizational Behavior. His studies have been covered by USA Today, US News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Yahoo!, ABC News, CBS, and the Financial Times. His research has earned awards from the NSF, APA, SIOP, and AAPSS, and he has served on a number of editorial boards, including AMR, AMJ, and JAP. He is currently an Associate Editor at AMJ. Dr. Grant has taught executive education, consulted, and presented for a variety of clients, including Google, Borders Group, Yahoo!, Time-Warner Cable, Medco, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Duke Energy, Grant Thornton, the American Financial Services Association, the North Carolina National Guard, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy. At Wharton, Dr. Grant has earned the Excellence in Teaching Award at both the MBA and undergraduate levels. He was previously a professor at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he earned the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the Weatherspoon Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and was named an MBA Teaching All-Star. He also designed a new hands-on experiential learning class based on The Apprentice in which MBA students raised over $33,000 in 48 hours for the Make-A-Wish Foundation while developing leadership, motivation, and influence skills. Before graduate school, Dr. Grant worked at Let’s Go Publications, where he set numerous company records for advertising sales. In his position as the Director of Let’s Go Advertising Sales, he earned the Manager of the Year award for leadership, commitment, and business acumen. He also supervised the hiring of over 300 employees and served as Director of Marketing and Business Development. He is a former All-State and All-American springboard diver and has performed for over a decade as a professional magician.