May 2020 Virtual Luncheon with Richard Davidson

Dr. Richard Davidson: Well-being is a skill: Lessons for the Current Pandemic. 

Dr. Davidson is a William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry and Founder & Director of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

He will present a framework for understanding well-being and how it might be cultivated. This framework has been in development for the past 5 years in the Center for Healthy Minds and includes four pillars of well-being: Awareness, Connection, Insight and Purpose. Each of these four pillars of well-being exhibits plasticity—each can be nurtured through simple mental exercise. The relevance of this work and framework specifically for the current pandemic will be highlighted. Finally, some guided practices will be included that can practically be incorporated into our everyday lives.

About Dr. Davidson

Dr. Davidson received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Psychology and has been at Wisconsin since 1984. He has published more than 440 articles, numerous chapters and reviews and edited 14 books. He is the author (with Sharon Begley) of "The Emotional Life of Your Brain" published by Penguin in 2012. He is co-author with Daniel

Goleman of “Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body”, published by Penguin Books in 2017.

He is the recipient of numerous awards for his research including the William James Fellow Award from the American Psychological Society. He was the year 2000 recipient of the most distinguished award for science given by the American Psychological Association - the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. He was the Founding Co-Editor of the new American Psychological Association journal EMOTION. In 2003 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in 2006. He served on the Scientific Advisory Board at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences from 2011-2019. Current member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Mental Health. In 2017 he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and in 2018 appointed to the Governing Board of UNESCO’s Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP).

His research is broadly focused on the neural bases of emotion and emotional style and methods to promote human flourishing including meditation and related contemplative practices.

Please register no later than Monday, May 11 Online registration will close at 5:00 pm on May 11. 

Everyone who registers for the virtual luncheon will receive a $20 gift card from the Wisconsin Restaurant Association. 

Since this is our first virtual luncheon, registration will be limited to TEMPO Madison Members only.