Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology in the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University. Professor Csikszentmihalyi is the director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC). The QLRC is a non-profit research institute that studies “positive psychology”; that is, human strengths such as optimism, creativity, intrinsic motivation, and responsibility. His books include the bestselling Flow, Being Adolescent, The Evolving Self, and Creativity. He is a member of the American Academy of Education, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Leisure Sciences.
He is noted for his work in the study of happiness and creativity, but is best known as the architect of the notion of “flow” — a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation — and for his years of research and writing on the topic. He is the author of many books and over 120 articles or book chapters. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world’s leading researcher on positive psychology.