Boaz Keysar is the William Benton Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago. He received his B.A. from the Hebrew University in 1984 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1989 under the mentorship of Sam Glucksberg. After serving as a visiting scholar at Stanford University, Keysar joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 1991. Together with his students and collaborators, Keysar studies the relationship between decision-making and language use. He has contributed to the study of figurative language and to the understanding of perspective taking. Professor Keysar has made discoveries about the impact of using a foreign language on choice, the way that language modality affects reasoning, how language affects health decisions and negotiations, and more. His research has received substantial interest in media outlets such as Scientific American, NY Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, SF Chronicle, The Economist, Der Spiegel, China Daily, MSNBC, NPR, and Freakonomics.
Keysar's honors include a Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright Scholarship. He has received major grants from NIH and NSF. He was awarded the President's Service award by President Clinton for his non-profit work.