Dean Simonton

Dean Keith Simonton is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus based in Davis, California, affiliated with the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. Simonton is known for his research in the fields of genius, creativity, leadership, and aesthetics. His work focus into the cognitive, personal, developmental, social, and cultural factors contributing to eminence, giftedness, and talent across various domains such as science, philosophy, literature, music, art, cinema, politics, and war.

He has over 550 publications, including 14 books. One of his books, The Origins of Genius, received the William James Book Award.

Early life and education
Simonton completed his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Occidental College in 1970, graduating magna cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Psi Chi.

He furthered his education at Harvard University, earning a Master of Arts in Social Psychology in 1973, followed by a Ph.D. in Social Psychology in 1975. During his time at Harvard, Simonton received fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the Danforth Foundation.

Teaching
Since 2016, Simonton has served as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. In 2013, Simonton was honored as the Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa.

Prior to his current position, he held the title of Distinguished Professor from 2004 to 2016 and served as a Full Professor from 1985 to 2016, both within the Department of Psychology at UC Davis.

Before joining the faculty at UC Davis, he held positions as an Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University. He also served as a Section Leader in the History of Civilization at Occidental College from 1969 to 1970.

Simonton has been recognized with Robert S. Daniel Award for Four Year College/University Teaching from the American Psychological Association (APA).

Professional service
Simonton served as the president of the Society for General Psychology (APA Division 1), the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts (APA Division 10), and the Society for the History of Psychology (APA Division 26).

From 1993 to 1999, he served as the editor of Journal of Creative Behavior.

Research
Simonton's research examines cognitive, personal, developmental, social, and cultural factors that underpin eminence and creativity. He employs archival data analysis techniques, including cross-cultural, transhistorical, biographical, and content analytical measures. His historiometric analyses shed light on eminent personalities, notable events, and creative products throughout history. He has also conducted laboratory experiments, mathematical models, meta-analyses, and other more mainstream methods. Additionally, Simonton explores the history of psychology, particularly focusing on the psychology of science and eminent scientists.

One of his findings was that the 10 years' experience of deliberate practice is not a rule, but an average with significant variation around the mean. He found that the people who achieved the greatest lifetime productivity and highest levels of eminence required the least amount of time to achieve expertise. He also found that while too much expertise can hurt one's chances of greatness, the downsides of overtraining in one domain can be ameliorated by the acquisition of expertise among numerous different domains.

He also found that an association of creativity with psychopathic traits was more apparent in artists than in scientists, and that artists who operate in expressive, subjective, or romantic styles display more psychopathology than those who operate in classical or academic styles.

In 2006, he published a paper that ranked the IQ, Openness, Intellectual Brilliance, and Leadership of all past 42 US presidents.

Books

 * Genius, creativity, and leadership: Historiometric inquiries	Harvard University Press, 1984 (out of print);
 * Why presidents succeed: A political psychology of leadership	Yale University Press, 1987 (out of print);
 * Scientific genius: A psychology of science	Cambridge University Press, 1988 (in print);
 * Psychology, science, and history: An introduction to historiometry, Yale University Press, 1990 (out of print);
 * Greatness: Who makes history and why	Guilford Press, 1994 (in print);
 * Genius and creativity: Selected papers, Ablex (Praeger) Publishing, 1997 (in print);
 * Origins of genius: Darwinian perspectives on creativity, Oxford University Press, 1999 (in print; ebook);
 * Great psychologists and their times: Scientific insights into psychology's history, American Psychological Association, 2002 (out of print);
 * Creativity in science: Chance, logic, genius, and zeitgeist, Cambridge University Press, 2004	(in print);
 * Genius 101, Springer Publishing, 2009, (in print; ebook);
 * Great flicks: Scientific studies of cinematic creativity and aesthetics, Oxford University Press, 2011 (in print; ebook);
 * The social science of cinema (with J. C. Kaufman, co-editor), Oxford University Press, 2014 (in print, ebook);
 * The Wiley handbook of genius (editor)	Wiley, 2014 (in print; ebook)
 * The Genius Checklist: Nine Paradoxical Tips on How You Can Become a Creative Genius, 2018

Awards and memberships
Simonton is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sigma Xi (The Scientific Research Honor Society), and many divisions of the American Psychological Association (APA).

Research awards

 * Ernest R. Hilgard Lifetime Achievement Award, Division 1 - Society for General Psychology, APA (2023)
 * Rudolf Arnheim Award for Outstanding Achievement in Psychology and the Arts, Division 10 - Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, APA (1997)
 * Sir Francis Galton Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Creativity, International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA, 1996)
 * Henry A. Murray Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Study of Individual Lives and Whole Persons, Association for Research in Personality and the Society for Personology (2014)
 * Joseph B. Gittler Award for the Most Scholarly Contribution to the Philosophical Foundation of Psychological Knowledge, American Psychological Foundation (2013)
 * E. Paul Torrance Award, Creativity Network, National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC, 2010)
 * Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Media Psychology Award, Division 46 - Society for Media Psychology and Technology, APA (2013)
 * Mensa Lifetime Achievement Award, Mensa Foundation (2019)

Research publication awards

 * William James Book Award, Division 1 - Society for General Psychology, APA (2000)
 * George A. Miller Outstanding Article Award, Division 1 - Society for General Psychology, APA (1997)
 * Theoretical Innovation Prize, Division 8 - Society for Personality and Social Psychology, APA (2004)
 * Mensa Award for Excellence in Research, Mensa Education & Research Foundation (1986, 2009, 2011)
 * Otto Klineberg Intercultural and International Relations Honorable Mention, Division 9 - Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, APA (1997)

Fellowships

 * Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1998)
 * Fellow, American Psychological Association (1983- ), 12 Divisions
 * Fellow, Association for Psychological Science (1990)
 * Fellow, International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (1998)
 * Fellow, Western Psychological Association (2010)
 * Charter Fellow, American Association of Applied and Preventative Psychology (1992)