Christine Whelan, PhD, Chief Happiness Officer

University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI

Dr. Christine B. Whelan is a clinical professor in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She is the author of five books, most recently The Big Picture: A Guide to Finding Your Purpose in Life (Templeton Press, 2016). At the University of Wisconsin – Madison Dr. Whelan teaches classes on happiness and well-being, directs the Money, Relationships and Equality Initiative and works with national media to translate research into evidence-based strategies for daily thriving. In January 2021 she debuted her course, Life on Purpose, from the Great Courses as an Audible.com Original. She’s been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times, among other national outlets, and helps corporations, non-profits and start-ups find purpose-focused approaches to health, finances and self-improvement strategies for life’s transitions. She is on the board of SEEK Safely, and an outspoken advocate for the dissemination of research-based advice. Dr. Whelan earned a masters and doctorate from the University of Oxford and graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University. She’s the daughter of an epidemiologist, a mom of more children than she ever thought possible, and she loves to cook, which is good, because there are a lot of kids running around most of the time.