The character arc of Adam Grant

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born 13 August 1981 in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, to a lawyer and a teacher. Between then and now sit an All-American diving year in 1999, paid magic work during college, a Harvard degree, a doctorate at Michigan, an assistant professorship in 2007, Wharton in 2009, tenure at twenty eight, six years voted the best professor at the university, and five books from 2013. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Adam Grant?

Tenured at Wharton at twenty eight.

His father was a lawyer and his mother a teacher. He was an All-American in springboard diving in 1999, and he wanted to play professional basketball, which did not happen. During college he worked as a professional magician, which is an unusual line on a psychologist's record and is not unrelated to the work: a magician spends years studying attention and what people believe they saw.

He took a bachelor's at Harvard and a master's and doctorate in organisational psychology at the University of Michigan. He joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an assistant professor in 2007 and moved to Wharton in 2009. He became its youngest tenured professor at twenty eight, and students voted him the best professor at the university every year from 2011 to 2017.

Give and Take came in 2013, arguing that givers rather than takers end up at the top as well as the bottom, and that the difference is whether the giving is strategic. Originals followed in 2016, Option B with Sheryl Sandberg in 2017, Think Again in 2021, on the skill of changing your own mind, and Hidden Potential in 2023. He hosts the WorkLife and ReThinking podcasts. His line is worth reading because the diving, the magic and the research are all the same habit: watching closely and practising the unglamorous part.

The moments

Adam Grant's timeline.

The 1990s

Jun 1999

An All-American diver

Milestone, and it changed his direction. He had wanted to play professional basketball. Diving is what he was actually good at.

The 2000s

~2001

A working magician

Milestone, and it changed everything. Not a hobby, a job. A magician spends years studying attention and what people believe they saw.

Jun 2006

A doctorate at Michigan

Milestone, and it changed his direction. From a magic act to the study of how people behave at work, which is a shorter walk than it sounds.

Aug 2007

Chapel Hill

Milestone. The first post.

Jul 2009

Wharton, and tenure at twenty eight

Milestone, and it changed everything. Twenty eight. Most people in that building are still assistant professors at thirty five.

The 2010s

May 2011

Best professor, six years running

Milestone, and it changed everything. Voted by the students, every year for seven years. That is the part he would care about.

1 Jun 2012

Stay in the journals, or write for everybody

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: write for a general reader, taken, or stay in the journals. Five books followed, and students voted him the best professor at the university every year to 2017.

9 Apr 2013

Give and Take

Milestone, and it changed everything. The argument that givers are found at the top as well as the bottom, and what separates the two.

2 Feb 2016

Originals

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Two more books, one of them written with somebody in the middle of a bereavement.

The 2020s

2 Feb 2021

Think Again

Milestone, and it changed everything. A book arguing that changing your mind is a skill rather than a weakness, which is a hard sell.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is a set of ideas people now argue with in their own workplaces, and the plainest of them is that being able to change your mind is a skill rather than a weakness.

What he wrote

Books by Adam Grant

2013
Give and Take
Why givers are found at the top as well as the bottom, and what separates the two.
2016
Originals
How non-conformists move the world.
2017
Option B
Written with Sheryl Sandberg, on facing adversity and building resilience.
2021
Think Again
The skill of changing your own mind, argued as a strength rather than a weakness.
2023
Hidden Potential
On the science of achieving greater things than anybody expected.

Your turn

Every line draws a unique story.

His has a diving board and a magic act on it before the doctorate. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

Step through

Draw my own line Explore Character Arc

Adam Grant: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What is Adam Grant's character arc?

An All-American diver who worked as a professional magician through college, took a doctorate in organisational psychology, became the youngest tenured professor at Wharton at twenty eight, and wrote five books about how people actually work.

Was Adam Grant really a magician?

Yes, a paid one, during college. It is an unusual line on a psychologist's record and it is not unrelated to the work: a magician spends years studying attention and what people believe they saw.

How young was Adam Grant when he got tenure?

Twenty eight. He joined Wharton in 2009, having been an assistant professor at Chapel Hill from 2007, and became the school's youngest tenured professor. Most academics in that building are still assistant professors well into their thirties.

What is Give and Take by Adam Grant?

His book of 2013, arguing that givers are found at the top of organisations as well as at the bottom, and that what separates the two is whether the giving is done with any strategy behind it.

What is Think Again by Adam Grant?

His book of 2021, arguing that the ability to change your own mind is a trainable skill rather than a sign of weakness. It is a difficult argument to sell, which is part of why it is worth noticing.

What did Adam Grant study?

He took a BA at Harvard College and an MS and PhD in organisational psychology at the University of Michigan. He had wanted to play professional basketball, and was an All-American in springboard diving instead.

Do students rate Adam Grant highly?

Yes. He was ranked by students as the best professor at the University of Pennsylvania every year from 2011 to 2017, which is seven years running and is the part of the record he would most likely point at.

Where does this timeline of Adam Grant's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Adam Grant isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

More character arcs

Lives that rhyme with his.

Every Character, A to Z

Sources

Adam Grant, English Wikipedia biography, article current to 31 August 2026.
The Wharton School faculty record.