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Ideas & Media

Journalists, publishers, scholars, teachers and preachers who shaped what Americans knew and believed.

11 people

John Dewey 1859–1952EducationPhilosopher and educational reformer whose progressive ideas shaped modern American pedagogy.William James 1842–1910Scholars & Public IntellectualsFounded American psychology as a discipline and shaped pragmatist philosophy at Harvard.B. F. Skinner 1904–1990Scholars & Public IntellectualsDeveloped operant conditioning and made behaviorism the dominant mid-century American psychology.Daniel Kahneman 1934–2024Scholars & Public IntellectualsIsraeli-American psychologist who won the Nobel Prize for his work on behavioral economics and decision-making.Abraham Maslow 1908–1970Scholars & Public IntellectualsProposed the hierarchy of needs and helped found humanistic psychology.Steven Pinker b. 1954Scholars & Public IntellectualsCognitive psychologist and linguist whose books argue that reason and science have driven human progress.Carl Rogers 1902–1987Scholars & Public IntellectualsCreated client-centered therapy and shaped modern counseling practice and training.Herbert A. Simon 1916–2001Scholars & Public IntellectualsPolymath whose theories of bounded rationality and pioneering artificial-intelligence research transformed economics and decision science.Howard Gardner b. 1943EducationDevelopmental psychologist whose theory of multiple intelligences transformed educational philosophy.Carol Dweck b. 1946EducationStanford psychologist whose growth mindset research transformed how educators approach student potential.Angela Duckworth b. 1970EducationPsychologist whose research on grit reshaped conversations about success and character education.