Ekman, Paul

Abstract

Paul Ekman was born February 15, 1934 in Washington, DC. His mother committed suicide when he was 14, and Ekman reported that this led to his desire to become a psychologist. He attended the University of Chicago from 1949 to 1952, and received his B.A. from New York University in 1954. He completed the Ph.D. at Adelphi University in 1958. He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1958 to 1960, as chief psychologist at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and became a first lieutenant. In 1972 he became a professor of psychology at the University of California, San Francisco, where he remained until 2004. Ekman married Mary Ann Mason, the past dean of graduate studies (2000–2007), and professor at the School of Law at the University of California‐Berkeley. They have two children.