STEPHEN POST

An opinion leader and public speaker, Stephen G. Post, Ph.D. is the best-selling author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Happier, Healthier Life by the Simple Act of Giving (Random House Broadway Books). He has been quoted in more than 4000 national and international newspapers and magazines, including Parade Magazine, “O” Magazine, and US News & World Report, and has been featured on numerous television shows including The Daily Show. His latest book is God and Love on Route 80: The Hidden Mystery of Human Connectedness (2019).

Post has inspired thousands with great stories and the best of medical knowledge on how being kind is good for our happiness, health, and resiliency. Described by Martin E.P. Seligman in his book Flourish as one of “the stars of positive psychology,” Post is renowned for proving that in general it is good to be good, and that compassion improves patient outcomes as well as clinician well-being. Post addressed the U.S. Congress on volunteerism and public health, receiving the Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition for Outstanding Achievement. He also received the Paper of the Year Award from the editors of The American Journal of Health Promotion for his paper “Rx: It’s Good to be Good (G2BG).” Post was awarded the Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Leadership in HealthCare from the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network, and the Kama Book Award in Medical Humanities from World Literacy Canada.

His book The Moral Challenge of Alzheimer’s Disease: Ethical Issues from Diagnosis to Dying (Johns Hopkins University Press) was designated a “medical classic of the century” by the British Medical Journal (2009), which wrote, “Until this pioneering work was published in 1995 the ethical aspects of the one of the most important illnesses of our aging populations were a neglected topic.” Post is one of three recipients of the Alzheimer’s Association distinguished service award “in recognition of personal and professional outreach to the Alzheimer’s Association Chapters on ethics issues important to people with Alzheimer’s and their families.”

He has taught at the University of Chicago Medical School, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (1988-2008), and the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University (2008-present), where he is Founding Director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics. He is an elected member of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Royal Society of Medicine, London. He is the author of over 300 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, Psychosomatic Medicine, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In 2003 Post was invited to join the Founding Fellows of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR), based at Cambridge University. Founded in 2002, ISSR is the world’s preeminent learned society devoted to this intersection, with 200 Fellows from the sciences, philosophy, history, and spirituality. In 2001 he founded the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, named by Sir John Templeton, who selected Post as the Institute’s President (www.unlimitedloveinstitute.com). The Institute is a non-profit 501(c) 3 public charity that investigates kindness, giving, and spirituality. 

Speech topics

It’s Good to Be Good: Why Giving of Oneself is Essential to Happiness and Health

Dr. Post presents an inspiring message about the pursuit of happiness and health. Researchers are showing again and again that compassion, generosity and volunteerism are as good for the giver as for the receiver, and even more so. As the pioneer organizer of research in the field over the past decade, Dr. Post explains why giving is like a one-a-day vitamin for the soul. When we weave it into daily life, even in small ways for just a half an hour, the benefits are substantial. This is exciting news for people of all ages. 

Doing Good and Feeling Better: A Deeper Look at Professionalism in Health Care

Patients need health care professionals whose compassion provides the emotional and relational security that are so important in coping with illness. But new science also shows that doctors, nurses and social workers who provide compassionate care feel happier and healthier, and stay in the health care professions longer. This is big news for anyone in the health care professions. 

The Deeply Forgetful: Caring for Loved Ones With Dementia

Dr. Post, one of only three persons awarded the distinguished service award by the National Alzheimer’s Association, is among the most renowned experts on aging and dementia in the United States and Canada. For anyone interested in the science of Alzheimer’s disease, and the best approaches to care, his engaging presentation is chock full of useful insights for every baby boomer with aging parents. 

Biology, Technology and The Future of Human Nature

Advances in biological sciences show just how great our powers are to modify nature and human nature. Anti-aging research, reproductive cloning, genetic enhancement, neuroscience, stem-cell research, and a thousand other new areas of scientific advance converge around the question of our power to transform ourselves in radical ways. Is this wise? How shall we guide ourselves as we enter a brave new world? 

Books

Dignity for Deeply Forgetful People: How Caregivers Can Meet the Challenges of Alzheimer's Disease

For caregivers of deeply forgetful people: a book that combines new ethics guidelines with an innovative program on how to communicate and connect with people with Alzheimer's.

Why Good Things Happen to Good People: The Exciting New Research that Proves the Link Between Doing Good and Living a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life 

A longer life. A happier life. A healthier life. Above all, a life that matters—so that when you leave this world, you’ll have changed it for the better. If science said you could have all this just by altering one behavior, would you? 

God and Love on Route 80: The Hidden Mystery of Human Connectedness 

A Story of Faith, Love, and Destiny for Everyone on a Spiritual Journey Once every generation comes a book so revelatory and lucid, it reconnects us to our very souls.

The Hidden Gifts of Helping: How the Power of Giving, Compassion, and Hope Can Get Us Through Hard Times 

The Hidden Gifts of Helping Others will leave you with the unshakable feeling that the world is an essentially good place.

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