Mahzarin R. Banaji

Mahzarin Banaji studies the disparities between conscious expressions of attitudes, beliefs and values and less conscious, implicit representations of the same. She is co-author of Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People; its ideas have led organizations to call for greater consistency between statements of values and behavior. Today, her work focuses on machine cognition, to understand bias in AI. Banaji is currently Richard Clarke Cabot Research Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard University and External Faculty at Santa Fe Institute. Previously she served as Reuben Post Halleck Professor of Psychology at Yale, Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Cowan Chair in Human Social Dynamics at Santa Fe Institute, and as President of the Association for Psychological Science. Banaji has been elected to the British Academy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and named Herbert A. Simon Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. She received the Deutsch Award for Social Justice, the Lewin Award, the Diener Award, the Campbell Award, the Constellation Award, and a Presidential Citation from the APA.  A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Banaji has been awarded the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the APA, the William James Fellow, Cattell Fellow, and Mentor Award from the APS, Yale University’s Lex Hixon Prize for Teaching Excellence and named Harvard College Professor for teaching excellence in the College. She was also recognized by the Golden Goose Award from the U.S. Congress, the National Academy of Sciences’ Atkinson Prize, and the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award. She is the recipient of seven honorary degrees. In 2026, the Carnegie Foundation named her Great Immigrant, Great American.