William Damon

Expertise

American Culture and Principles
Character Education
Life-span Human Development
Education for high achievement and excellence

Research team

Virtues Task Force Participant

Research interests

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William Damon
Senior Fellow (courtesy)

Short Bio

William Damon is a Professor of Education at Stanford University and Senior Fellow (by Courtesy) at the Hoover Institution. Damon is a leading scholar of human development who has written on the development of purpose at all periods of life. Damon is a Fellow of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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Mid-Length Bio

William Damon is Professor of Education at Stanford University and Senior Fellow (by Courtesy) at the Hoover Institution. He is one of the world’s leading researchers in the study of human development and a pioneer in the study of how people find purpose in life. Damon is author of the influential book The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life. Damon's other books include Greater Expectations: Overcoming the Culture of Indulgence in our Homes and Schools (winner of the Parent's Choice Book Award); Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet (with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi); Failing Liberty 101: How we are Leaving Young Americans Unprepared for Citizenship in a Free Society; and Some Do Care: Contemporary Lives of Moral Commitment (with Anne Colby). His most recent book, A Round of Golf with my Father: The New Psychology of Exploring Your Past to Make Peace with your Present, discusses narrative methods such as the “Life Review” for fostering positive identity, gratitude, and a purposeful future. Damon is a Fellow in the Association for Research in Education, the National Academy of Education, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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About

William Damon is a senior fellow (by courtesy) at the Hoover Institution and a professor of education at Stanford University.

Damon's research explores how people develop purpose and integrity in their work, family, and personal life. Damon's current work focuses on purpose among people of all ages and on high achievement and excellence across vocations. He examines how Americans can learn to become devoted citizens, purposeful achievers, and successful entrepreneurs. Damon's work has been used in professional training programs in fields such as medicine, journalism, law, and business, and in programs in grades K–12 and higher education.

One of Damon’s recent books is Failing Liberty 101 (Hoover Press, 2011). Other recent books include The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life (2008), Taking Philanthropy Seriously (2006), and A Round of Golf with my Father (2021). Damon’s earlier books include Bringing in a New Era in Character Education (Hoover Press, 2002); Greater Expectations: Overcoming the Culture of Indulgence in Our Homes and Schools (1995) (winner of the Parent’s Choice Book Award); and The Moral Child (1992).

Damon was editor in chief of The Handbook of Child Psychology, fifth and sixth editions (1998 and 2006). He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Education, and a fellow of the American Educational Research Association.