The character arc of Laurie Santos
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born in 1975 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in a binational home, to a programmer father whose family is of Cape Verdean descent and a mother who was a guidance counsellor at the high school she and her brother attended. Between then and now sit Harvard, work as a research assistant on an island of monkeys in her second year, a professorship at Yale, the direction of two cognition laboratories, the headship of a residential college, a place on a list of brilliant young scientists in 2007, the most popular course in Yale's history in January 2018, and a podcast from September 2019. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Laurie Santos?
A quarter of the whole university signed up for one course.
She was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in a binational home. Her father was a programmer whose family is of Cape Verdean descent. Her mother was a guidance counsellor at New Bedford High School, which is where Santos and her brother went to school, so she was taught in a building where her mother worked.
She went to Harvard, and in her second year became a research assistant and travelled to Cayo Santiago, an island off Puerto Rico populated by free ranging monkeys. That is the making of a comparative cognitive scientist: you go and watch animals think, in the field, as an undergraduate.
She became a professor of psychology at Yale and directs its Comparative Cognition Laboratory and its Canine Cognition Lab, which studies how dogs think, and was formerly head of one of the university's residential colleges, which means she lived among undergraduates and saw close up how they were doing. That detail matters for what happened next.
In January 2018 she taught a course called Psychology and the Good Life. It became the most popular course in Yale's history, with roughly one in four Yale undergraduates enrolled. A quarter of one of the most selective universities in the world signed up to be taught how to be less unhappy, which tells you something the university had not previously had to say out loud.
In September 2019 she began hosting a podcast about the same material, published by a media company. She has been a featured speaker at a major talks conference, was included in a magazine's list of ten brilliant young scientists in 2007, and was listed in 2013 as a leading campus celebrity.
The moments
Laurie Santos's timeline.
The 1980s
Her mother worked there
Everyday. She went to the high school where her mother was the guidance counsellor.
The 1990s
Harvard
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Out of a New Bedford public school and into Harvard.
An island of monkeys
Milestone, and it changed everything. Second year of university, and she was on an island watching monkeys think.
The 2000s
A professorship at Yale
Milestone, and it changed everything. A chair at Yale, studying how minds that are not human work.
Two laboratories
Milestone, and it changed her direction. One laboratory for primates and one for dogs.
A brilliant ten
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Named one of ten brilliant young scientists in the country.
The 2010s
Living among the students
Milestone, and it changed everything. She lived in the college, and saw close up how the students were doing.
Teach the monkeys, or this
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: teach the good life, taken, or stay with the laboratories. It became the most popular course in the university's history and then a podcast.
A quarter of Yale enrols
Milestone, and it changed everything. One course, and one in four undergraduates at Yale signed up.
The Happiness Lab
Milestone, and it changed everything. The course, turned into something anybody can listen to for free.
The 2020s
On the big stage
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The lecture, taken well outside the lecture hall.
The podcast keeps going out and the course keeps running. What she set moving was visible the moment a quarter of Yale enrolled: a generation of very high achieving young people admitting, in public and all at once, that nobody had taught them this part.
Your turn
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Laurie Santos: frequently asked questions
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Where does this timeline of Laurie Santos's life come from?
More character arcs
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Sources
- Laurie Santos, English Wikipedia biography.
- Yale University records for her professorship, the two laboratories and the January 2018 course enrolment.
- Popular Science Brilliant Ten, 2007, and Time magazine, 2013.