Ken is a professor of psychological sciences at University of Missouri. His research focuses on well-being, motivation, self-determination theory, personality, and positive psychology. He is the recipient of the Templeton Foundation “Positive Psychology” prize and the Ed and Carol Diener award for mid-career achievement in personality psychology. He is the author of Optimal Human Being: An Integrated Multi-Level Perspective, Self-determination Theory in the Clinic: Motivating physical and mental health and has written and edited several other academic books, and more than 200 academic articles and book chapters.