Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman

Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D, served as a VIA Trustee for its first 10 years. He is Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and received both the American Psychological Society's William James Award (for basic science) and the Cattell Award (for the application of science). In 1997, he was elected president of the American Psychological Association by the largest vote in modern history. The National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Templeton Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation have supported his research. He is the director of the Positive Psychology Network with a mission to transform social science so it works on the best things in life: virtue, positive emotion and positive institutions—and not just on healing pathology.