Ryan M. Niemiec

Ryan M. Niemiec is a leading figure in the education, research, and practice of character strengths that are found in all human beings. Ryan is education director of the VIA Institute on Character, a global nonprofit organization in Cincinnati, Ohio, that advances the latest science and practical applications of character strengths. He's an award-winning psychologist, adjunct professor at Xavier University, and annual instructor at the University of Pennsylvania. He was awarded Fellow of the International Positive Psychology Association in 2017.

As a frequent keynote speaker and workshop leader, Ryan has offered several hundred presentations on positive psychology topics across the globe. He is author of several books, including Character Strengths Interventions and Mindfulness and Character Strengths; and coauthor of Movies and Mental Illness, Positive Psychology at the Movies, and The Power of Character Strengths. He's penned hundreds of articles for the general public on character strengths, and more than eighty scholarly articles and chapters. He lives with his wife and three kids outside Cincinnati, Ohio. His highest strengths are hope, love, curiosity, honesty, appreciation of beauty, and fairness.