Council of Advisors

The Institute's Council of Advisors are preeminent thinkers and benefactors in the fields of coaching, organizational change, and clinical psychology. The Institute of Coaching is honored to have the support and guidance of these visionary leaders as we establish the scientific foundation of coaching and translate it into evidence-based coaching practices.

Ruth Ann Harnisch

President of the Harnisch Foundation, Ruth Ann Harnisch funds innovations in coaching, journalism, and philanthropy. Ms. Harnisch is the founding funder of the Institute of Coaching at Harvard, the annual International Coaching Research Forum, and The Coaching Commons, a worldwide forum for coaching news and commentary. MORE

Barbara L. Fredrickson PhD

Barbara Fredrickson is Kenan Distinguished Professor and Director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory (a.k.a. PEP Lab) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she holds appointments in Psychology and the Kenan-Flagler School of Business.  MORE

Anthony M. Grant PhD

Anthony M. Grant holds a MA in behavioural science and a PhD. His PhD thesis,“Towards a psychology of coaching: The impact of coaching on meta-cognition, mental health and goal attainment”, is one of few doctoral theses that explicitly examines coaching psychology. He is both a practitioner and an academic. MORE

Richard Kilburg PhD

Richard Kilburg holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. He attended a post-graduate program in mental health administration at the Community Psychiatry Laboratory at Harvard University. He has been in private practice as a clinician and consultant. MORE

Ellen Langer PhD

Ellen Langer is a professor in the Psychology Department at Harvard University. Dr. Langer has described her work on the illusion of control, aging, decision-making, and mindfulness theory in over 200 research articles and six academic books. Her work has led to numerous academic honors. MORE

George Vaillant MD

George Vaillant is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Womens Hospital. He has spent his research career charting adult development and the recovery process of several disorders . He has spent the last 35 years as Director of the Study of Adult Development at the Harvard University Health Service. MORE

Sir John Whitmore PhD

Sir John Whitmore is Executive Chairman of Performance Consultants. He is a preeminent thinker in organizational change and works globally with leading multinational corporations to establish coaching management cultures and leadership programs. He has written books on leadership and coaching, of which Coaching for Performance is the best known. MORE