Will Behavioral Science Make The World a Better Place?

The 2018 Gustav Pollak Lecture Series on Research in Government
A Conversation with
David Halpern
Chief Executive, United Kingdom’s Behavioural Insights Team
Todd Rogers (Moderator)
Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

The JFK Jr. Forum aims to educate, inspire debate, and foster conversation at the Institute of Politics. Unless otherwise specified, members of the Harvard community and general public are encouraged to attend Forum events.

To learn more about events like this one, sign up for the JFK Jr. Forum newsletter HERE

David Halpern is the Chief Executive of the Behavioural Insights Team and Board Director. He has led the team since its inception in 2010. Prior to that, David was the founding Director of the Institute for Government and between 2001 and 2007 was the Chief Analyst at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. David was also appointed as the What Works National Advisor in July 2013. He supports the What Works Network and leads efforts to improve the use of evidence across government. Before entering government, David held tenure at Cambridge and posts at Oxford and Harvard. He has written several books and papers on areas relating to behavioural insights and wellbeing, including Social Capital (2005), the Hidden Wealth of Nations (2010), Inside the Nudge Unit (2015) and co-author of the MINDSPACE report.

Todd Rogers is a behavioral scientist, a Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Director of the Student Social Support R&D Lab.  His research generates novel insights about human behavior and harnesses these and existing behavioral science insights to address critical issues of public policy. It is part of the emerging field of behavioral policy, in which the design of policy is tightly linked with behavioral science insights and methods.  As an overarching goal, Todd is committed to ensuring that behavioral policy research (his own and that of others) is implemented widely and with fidelity. This has led to Todd co-founding two social enterprises: the Analyst Institute (focused on citizen engagement) and In Class Today (focused on student engagement).