Daniel M.T. Fessler, Ph.D.
Director, UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute
Professor, Department of Anthropology
Consulting Anthropologist, Veterans Administration West Los Angeles Medical Center

I am an evolutionary anthropologist whose principal focus is contemporary humans. Combining anthropological, psychological, and biological theories and methods, I study altruism, positive social behavior, and cooperation, including “contagious kindness”, as well as conflict, aggression, and risk-taking. Much of my research focuses on emotions and their behavioral consequences. I also investigate morality; cultural transmission; clinical applications of evolutionary psychology and evolutionary medicine; disease avoidance; food and eating; and sex and reproduction.
website: http://www.danielmtfessler.com/




Philippe Bourgois, Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Psychiatry, Anthropology, and Sociology
Director, Center for Social Medicine, Semel Institute





Julienne E. Bower, Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry/Biobehavioral Sciences





Michelle G. Craske, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Director, UCLA Anxiety and Depression Research Center
Director, Innovative Treatment Network, UCLA Depression Grand Challenge





Naomi Eisenberger, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology





David Gere, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance
Founding Director, UCLA Art and Global Health Center




Alan Fiske, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Department of Anthropology





Jacob Foster, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology






Andrew Fuligni, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, Department of Psychology






Chad Hazlett, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Departments of Statistics and Political Science




Marco Iacoboni, M.D. Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Director, Neuromodulation Lab, Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, UCLA
Member, Brain Research Institute, UCLA


Michael Irwin, M.D.
Cousins Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Distinguished Professor of Psychology, UCLA College of Letters and Sciences
Director, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Director, Mindful Awareness Research Center, Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior



Kerri Johnson, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Departments of Communication and Psychology








Terence Keel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Departments of Institute for Society and Genetics and African American Studies
Affiliate, Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice and Health







Vinay Lal, Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of History and Asian American Studies





Jorja Leap, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor, Department of Social Welfare
Executive Director, Social Justice Research Partnership


Lené Levy-Storms, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor & Hartford Faculty Scholar
Departments of Social Welfare and Medicine/Geriatrics
Associate Director UCLA Borun Center for Gerontological Research
Faculty Associate, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research


Aliza Luft, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology






Cassie Mogilner Holmes, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making
Donnalisa ’86 and Bill Barnum Endowed Term Chair in Management, UCLA Anderson School of Management





Akihiro Nishi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Epidemiology
Director, Nishi Lab, UCLA




Safiya Umoja Noble, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Departments of Information Studies and African American Studies
Co-Director, UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2I2)






Daniel Posner, Ph.D.
James S. Coleman Professor of International Development, Department of Political Science



Faysal Saab, M.D.
Associate Director, Global Health Pathway
Assistant Clinical Professor, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
Hospitalist Division, UCLA Medical Center



Andrew Shaner, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Staff Psychiatrist, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
Associate Director, Center of Excellence – Interprofessional-Academic – Homeless Patient-Aligned Care Team, VA West Los Angeles Healthcare Center



Sue Smalley, Ph.D.
Chair of the Bedari Kindness Institute Executive Committee
Professor Emeritus, UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences




Ramesh Srinivasan, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Information Studies




C. Jason Throop, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology




Janet Tomiyama, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology




Karen Umemoto, Ph.D.
Helen and Morgan Chu Chair and Director, Asian American Studies Center
Professor, Departments of Urban Planning and Asian American Studies




Abel Valenzula Jr., Ph.D.
Professor of Chicano Studies, Urban Planning and Labor Studies
Director, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
Special Advisor to the Chancellor on Immigration Policy

Till von Wachter, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Economics
Faculty Director, California Policy Lab
Director, Federal Statistical Research Data Center
Associate Dean for Research, Division of Social Sciences



Carole Warde, M.D.
Former Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine

Dan Fessler
Darnell Hunt
Jennifer Harris
Matt Harris
Sue Smalley

MATTHEW HARRIS – BIOGRAPHY

Matt Harris is a founding partner of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). GIP is recognized as one of the world’s leading infrastructure investment firms, investing globally in the energy, transportation, water and waste sectors and combining deep industry expertise and relationships with best practice operational management.

During his 15 years as part of the leadership team at GIP, Matt has been intimately involved in all of GIP’s investment, management and strategic activities. He has overseen a period of massive growth for the company, transforming it into a market leader which now manages more than $72.0 billion for its investors in high quality infrastructure assets in both OECD and select emerging market countries. GIP’s impact extends beyond investors, with its portfolio companies boasting combined annual revenues of greater than $43.0 billion and employing approximately 52,000 people worldwide. Matt has championed GIP’s forward-leaning approach to growth and innovation, helping complete 16 strategic partnerships representing a total investment of $19.2 billion by GIP, and leading the firm’s entry into new markets including infrastructure in developing countries and renewable energy as well as its overall focus on energy transition. He previously was responsible for GIP’s global energy industry investment activities. He is a member of the Executive Committee of GIP as well as its Investment and Portfolio Valuation Committees. Matt is also a member of the Board of Directors of Freeport LNG, LLC and Hess Midstream Partners, LLC.

Prior to the formation of GIP in 2006, Matt was Co-Head of the Global Energy Group at Credit Suisse where he succeeded Adebayo Ogunlesi and served as Head of the EMEA Emerging Markets Group. Previously, he was a senior member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group and served as Co-Head of Americas Mergers and Acquisitions at the firm. Before joining Credit Suisse, he was a senior member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at Kidder Peabody & Co. Inc.

As a leader in infrastructure investment, Matt has worked on over 150 transactions during his career, aggregating investments in excess of $250 billion in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Australasia.

Matt is the founder of Bedari, an impact company innovating at the intersection of sustainability, philanthropy and investment. Bedari’s portfolio is comprised of operating companies, issue-focused investments and philanthropic projects catalyzing change in mental health and wellness, energy transition and environmental conservation. Bedari is a founding investor in Chopra, a next generation healthcare company built around the work and teachings of Deepak Chopra. Through its Bedari Foundation arm, Bedari recently collaborated with the University of California at Los Angeles to establish a $20 million endowment to create the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute dedicated to the research, education and practice of kindness. On the environmental front, Bedari has partnered with a group of visionary conservationists, investors and African communities to establish Karingani in Mozambique, a first-of-its-kind private reserve, restoring and conserving 150,000 hectares of some of Africa’s last remaining wilderness.

Matt holds a B.A. in Political Science (cum laude) from the University of California at Los Angeles. He is on the Board of Directors of the Chopra Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund and serves as Chairman of the Board of the Columbia University Center for Global Energy Policy.