One of the world's leading authorities on the psychology of creativity, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University and Co-Director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC). The QLRC is a non-profit research institute that studies "positive psychology"- human strengths such as optimism, creativity, intrinsic motivation, and responsibility. He is also emeritus professor of Human Development at the University of Chicago, where he chaired the department of psychology and his famous investigations of "optimal experience" revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called "flow."
Professor Csikszentmihalyi's life's work has been to study what makes people truly happy. Drawing upon years of systematic research, he developed the concept of "flow" as a metaphorical description of the rare mental state associated with feelings of optimal satisfaction and fulfillment. His analysis of the internal and external conditions giving rise to "flow" show that it is almost always linked to circumstances of high challenge when personal skills are used to the utmost. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance.
In addition to the hugely influential Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the author of thirteen other books translated into 22 languages, including Experience Sampling Method: Measuring the quality of Everyday Life, and A Life Worth Living: Contributions to Positive Psychology, in addition to some 225 research articles.
A Hungarian-born social scientist, and graduate of the classical gymnasium, "Torquato Tasso," in Rome, Csikszentmihalyi completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago and earned a PhD in psychology there in 1965.
His research has been supported by the United States Public Health Service, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Sloan Foundation, the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation.
Serving on the editorial boards of numerous professional journals, he has also been a consultant to business, government organizations, educational associations, and cultural institutions and given invited lectures throughout the world.
More About Speaker, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi . . .
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has spent more than 25 years researching "flow," a state of "intense emotional involvement" and timelessness that comes from immersive and challenging activities such as software coding or rock climbing. His work is studied by marketing specialists worldwide. In his books and presentations, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi explores the implications of "flow" for personal and societal evolution, and teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness and greatly improve the quality of our lives.
Dr. Csikszentmihalyi has been a visiting professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, the University of Illinois, the University of Milan, the University of Alberta, Escola Paulista de Medecina in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Duquesne University, the University of Maine, the University of Jyveskyla in Finland, and the British Psychological Society. http://www.bigspeak.com/mihaly-csikzentmihalyi.html
