Danny Oppenheimer

Danny Oppenheimer is a Professor at the Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he holds the UCLA Anderson Dean's Term Chair in Management. His work bridges Behavioral Science, Human Decision Making, and Psychology, with applications to Marketing, Charitable Giving, and Democracy.

• Ph.D. in Psychology (2004), Stanford University
• M.A. in Psychology (2003), Stanford University
• B.A. in Psychology (Cum Laude, 2000), Rice University

Oppenheimer’s research investigates how individuals process information during decision-making, with additional studies on psychometric assessment, charitable giving, stochastic systems, and the psychological foundations of democracy. His work has been widely disseminated through over 45 peer-reviewed articles and three books, including Democracy Despite Itself (2012) and The Science of Giving (2010).

He has received prestigious honors such as the Ig Nobel Prize in Literature (2006) for his critique of academic jargon and the Citibank Teaching Award (2015), reflecting his commitment to pedagogy. Additional accolades include awards from the Society of Judgment and Decision Making, European Association for Decision Making, and Cognitive Science Society.

Oppenheimer’s teaching philosophy emphasizes collaborative learning, stating, "It’s not just the professor teaching, it’s everybody teaching everyone else." His research has been featured in The Economist, New York Times, and Nature News, among others. Outside academia, he enjoys volleyball, chocolate chip cookies, and corny puns.