Kenneth J. Gergen, Ph.D.

Wallingford, PA
Phone: 610-566-1825
Email: kgergen1@swarthmore.edu
Web: www.swarthmore.edu/kenneth-gergen

Kenneth J. Gergen, Ph.D., is a founding member, President of the Taos Institute and Chair of the Board, and the Mustin Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College. Gergen also serves as an Honorary Professor at the University of Buenos Aires. Gergen received his BA from Yale University and his PhD from Duke University, and has taught at Harvard University and Heidelberg University. He has been the recipient of two Fulbright research fellowships, the Geraldine Mao fellowship in Hong Kong, along with Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Alexander Humboldt Stiftung. Gergen has also been the recipient of research grants from the National Science Foundation, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the Barra Foundation. He has received honorary degrees from Tilburg University and Saybrook Institute, and is a member of the World Academy of Art and Science. 

Gergen is a major figure in the development of social constructionist theory and its applications to practices of social change. He also lectures widely on contemporary issues in cultural life, including the self, technology, postmodernism, the civil society, organizational change, developments in psychotherapy, educational practices, aging, and political conflict. Gergen has published over 300 articles in journals, magazines and books, and his major books include Toward Transformation in Social Knowledge, The Saturated Self, Realities and Relationships, and An Invitation to Social Construction. With Mary Gergen, he published an electronic newsletter, Positive Aging (www.positiveaging.net) distributed to 20,000 recipients. 

Gergen has served as the President of two divisions of the American Psychological Association, the Division on Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, and on Psychology and the Arts. He has served on the editorial board of 35 journals, and as the Associate Editor of The American Psychologist and Theory and Psychology. He has also served as a consultant to Sandoz Pharmaceutical Company, Arthur D. Little, Inc, the National Academy of Science, Trans-World Airlines, Bio-Dynamics, and Knight, Gladieux & Smith, Inc.

Kenneth J. Gergen, Ph.D. Manuscripts

Recognition

Ken Gergen Named One of the Top 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists in the World

The website, The Best Schools, has a feature article on the 50 top most influential living pychologists today. See the article at: https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-psychologists-world/

The Taos Institute’s co-founder and board president, Kenneth J. Gergen, PhD is featured in this article. (#19 on page 30 in alpha order).

Ken Gergen receives the award of 2017 Distinguished Alumni from Duke University Graduate School

For the full story and a look at his contribution to the field of psychology, see the article, Social Psychologist Gergen Named 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient. Here is an interview with Dean Paula D. McClain discussing his memories growing at Duke, his time as a Duke doctoral student, and his controversial ideas about the discipline of social psychology.