Dr. Philip Zimbardo

Dr. Philip Zimbardo‘s research looked at the psychology of heroism. He served as Illuminated Cities' advisor between 2013-2024 until his passing. He was professor emeritus at Stanford University, and spent 50 years teaching and studying psychology. He received his Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University, and his areas of focus included time perspective, shyness, terrorism, madness, and evil. Best-known for his controversial Stanford Prison Experiment that highlighted the ease with which ordinary intelligent college students could cross the line between good and evil when caught up in the matrix of situational and systemic forces. He had previously served as President of the American Psychological Association, designed and narrated the award-winning 26-part PBS series, Discovering Psychology, and had published more than 60 books, academic and popular, and over 600 publications, among them, Shyness, The Lucifer Effect, The Time Cure and The Time Paradox. Dr. Zimbardo lectured worldwide and had actively worked to promote his non-profit The Heroic Imagination Project. His research focused on the question: “What pushes some people to become perpetrators of evil, while others act heroically on behalf of those in need?” We are grateful to Dr. Zimbardo for his constant encouragement, generosity, and time during the years he served with us.