Stephen Post, Ph.D.
Biography
Stephen Post, Ph.D.
Stephen G. Post is the director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics at Stony Brook University. From 1998 through 2008 he was Professor of Bioethics & Family Medicine in the School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Post served as a Senior Research Scholar in the Becket Institute at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University. He is also president of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love - Altruism, Compassion, Service, which was founded in 2001 with a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The Institute facilitates research, writing, conferences and courses at the interface of science, spirituality and love for humanity. Through the Institute, he has funded more than fifty studies at major American universities on phenomena such as altruism, compassion and forgiveness. He has chaired nine national conferences in his field and delivers numerous invited lectures in the United States, as well as in Canada and the United Kingdom.
His most recent book is GODLY LOVE: A Rose Planted in the Desert of Our Hearts.He is also the writer, along with co-author Jill Neimark, of WHY GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE: The Exciting New Science That Proves the Link Between Doing Good and Living a Longer, Happier, Healthier Life. Dr. Post has published over 130 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Science, The International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, The Journal of Religion, The American Journal of Psychiatry, The Journal of the American Medical Association and The Lancet. He has written seven scholarly books on love and is also the editor of eight other books, including THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: Cultural, Scientific & Ethical Perspectives on a Biomedical Goaland ALTRUISM AND HEALTH: Perspectives from Empirical Research, both published by Oxford University Press. He is also editor-in-chief of the definitive five-volume Encyclopedia of Bioethics. In recent years, Dr. Post’s research has drawn increasing media attention from programs as diverse as Michael Feldman’s NPR show “Whad ‘Ya Know?,” Robert H. Schuller’s “Hour of Power” and ABC’s “20/20.”
His own research and writing was initially in the area of agape love and then in general bioethics, but two decades ago Dr. Post developed a specialty in ethical issues surrounding developmental cognitive disabilities and dementia in the context of an aging society. For this work he was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Endowment for the Humanities and ten private foundations, including the Ford Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation, which provided the initial funding for the Institute. An elected member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of Alzheimer’s Disease International, he serves on the National Ethics Advisory Board for the Alzheimer’s Association and is one of several individuals recognized for “distinguished service” by its national board.
Stephen Post, Ph.D.
