Johnstone Family Professor, Harvard University
Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is widely known for both his writings in publications such as The New York Times, Time, and The New Republic, and for his seven books, which include the two Pulitzer Prize finalists How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate.
Pinker has done research on many aspects of language and cognition, and is an eloquent proponent of a scientific approach to human nature which embraces evolution, genetics, mental computation, and neuroscience. He has authored three books explaining the nature of language and its relevance to human affairs (The Language Instinct, Words and Rules, and The Stuff of Thought), and has also written on topics ranging from the moral sense to genetic enhancement to politically correct language.
Pinker is a graduate of Montreal’s McGill University as well as Harvard. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his research, teaching, and writing, including the Royal Institution of Great Britain’s 2004 Henry Dale Prize and the honorary presidency of the Canadian Psychological Association.
