Ryan Niemiec

Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D. is a leading scientist, educator, and practitioner, with the title of Chief Science & Education Officer at the renown VIA Institute on Character, a nonprofit organization in Cincinnati, Ohio, that leads the global advancement of the science of character strengths. Ryan has been at the epicenter of this work, positively impacting many millions of people.

Ryan is a four-time, award-winning psychologist, annual instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, and author of 14 books and over 100 academic papers. His books include the bestselling consumer book, The Power of Character Strengths (2019), The Mindfulness and Character Strengths Workbook (2023), the two leading practitioner-focused books in positive psychology – Character Strengths Interventions (2018) and Mindfulness and Character Strengths (2023) – and books on strengths for stress, teens/parents, people with disabilities/abilities, and positive movies. He’s creator of the evidenced-based program, Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice (MBSP), used by practitioners and researchers across the globe. He collaborates with multiple research groups, spanning hundreds of thousands of participants each year.

Ryan was interviewed by the legendary Larry King in 2020. He’s given over 1,000 presentations on positive psychology topics, including a character strengths world tour in 2009-2010, a TEDx talk, and a speaking tour of Australia. He was one of the invited scientists for the opening of the Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness in Public Health, at Harvard University in 2023.

His highest character strengths are hope, love, honesty, fairness, spirituality, social intelligence, and appreciation of beauty.

Trees, rivers, birds, the ocean, the colors radiating from the sun, most wild animals….my children at play…acts of vulnerability, forgiveness, humility, transparency, wisdom…and peace at times of adversity (in oneself, in relationships, between groups).

My mother. I came to understand unconditional love and this formed a basis by which I could always return.

The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh

Spirituality: What it is and why it matters, Roger Gottlieb