Edward L. Deci
Edward L. Deci | |
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| Born | October 14, 1942 Palmyra, New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 14, 2026 (aged 83) Rochester, New York, U.S. |
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | Carnegie-Mellon University (PhD) University of Pennsylvania (MBA) Hamilton College (AB) |
| Genre | Motivation, Psychology, Education, Business |
Edward Lewis Deci (/ˈdiːsi/; (October 14, 1942 – February 14, 2026) was an American academic and psychologist who was Professor of Psychology and Gowen Professor in the Social Sciences at the University of Rochester, and director of its Human Motivation Program. He was well known in psychology for his theories of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and basic psychological needs which he had been researching for 40 years. With Richard Ryan, he was the co-founder of self-determination theory (SDT), an influential contemporary motivational theory.
Deci was also president and director of the Monhegan Museum in Monhegan, Maine.