Kabat-zinn biography
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Who is Jon Kabat-Zinn?
You may have heard mindfulness defined as “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally."
That definition comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), author of several books, and leader in the mindfulness industry.
Early Life
Born in 1944 to Elvin and Sally Kabat, Kabat-Zinn was the youngest of nine children. His father was a molecular immunologist at Columbia University and his mother was a painter. Kabat-Zinn believes that growing up around these two influences of art and science in New York City influenced his professional choices later in life. He studied at Haverford College and then at MIT, where he advocated against the Vietnam War. Kabat-Zinn received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from MIT in 1971. It was during his studies at MIT that he was introduced to mindfulness for the first time by Philip Kapleau, a Zen missionary.
Early Career and t 
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Jon did his doctoral work in molecular biology at MIT, in the laboratory Salvador Luria. He is the author of 15 books, currently in print in over 45 languages. His most recent is Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief (April 2023). He is also the author of a series of research papers on MBSR dating back to 1982. In a 2021 study of trends and developments in mindfulness research over 55 years (1966-2021), three of his empirical studies figure among the ten most cited articles on mindfulness (nos. 3, 5, and 9) in the scientific literature; and a review article he authored is number two among citations of the top ten review articles on mindfulness.
His work and that of a global community of colleagues has contributed to a growing movement of mindfulness into mainstream institutions such as medicine, psychology, health care, neuroscience, schools, higher education, business, social justice, criminal justice, prisons, the law, technology, the military, government, and professional spo
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Kabat-Zinn, Jon 1944–
PERSONAL: Born June 5, 1944, in New York, NY; married; wife's name Myla (a childbirth educator); children: three. Education: Graduate of Haverford College; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D.
ADDRESSES: Office—Department of Preventive and Behavioral medicin, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, 55 Lake Ave. N., Worcester, MA 01655-0214. E-mail—[email protected].
CAREER: Worked as a science teacher; Department of Preventive and Behavioral medicin, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA, researcher, professor, and founder of Stress Reduction Clinic, 1979–, conductor of workshops on healing, pain management, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
WRITINGS:
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1990, Delta (New York, NY), 2005.
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, Hyperion (
Jon did his doctoral work in molecular biology at MIT, in the laboratory Salvador Luria. He is the author of 15 books, currently in print in over 45 languages. His most recent is Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief (April 2023). He is also the author of a series of research papers on MBSR dating back to 1982. In a 2021 study of trends and developments in mindfulness research over 55 years (1966-2021), three of his empirical studies figure among the ten most cited articles on mindfulness (nos. 3, 5, and 9) in the scientific literature; and a review article he authored is number two among citations of the top ten review articles on mindfulness.
His work and that of a global community of colleagues has contributed to a growing movement of mindfulness into mainstream institutions such as medicine, psychology, health care, neuroscience, schools, higher education, business, social justice, criminal justice, prisons, the law, technology, the military, government, and professional spo
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Kabat-Zinn, Jon 1944–
PERSONAL: Born June 5, 1944, in New York, NY; married; wife's name Myla (a childbirth educator); children: three. Education: Graduate of Haverford College; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D.
ADDRESSES: Office—Department of Preventive and Behavioral medicin, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, 55 Lake Ave. N., Worcester, MA 01655-0214. E-mail—[email protected].
CAREER: Worked as a science teacher; Department of Preventive and Behavioral medicin, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA, researcher, professor, and founder of Stress Reduction Clinic, 1979–, conductor of workshops on healing, pain management, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
WRITINGS:
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1990, Delta (New York, NY), 2005.
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, Hyperion (