Michelle Gielan is a positive psychology researcher, keynote speaker, bestselling author, and former national news anchor. For more than 15 years, she has studied how optimism shapes resilience, well-being, and success—especially when pressure is high and the path forward is uncertain.

Michelle is the author of Broadcasting Happiness: The Science of Igniting and Sustaining Positive Change and the forthcoming Resilient Optimism: The Science of Sustaining a Positive Mindset in Tough Times (Harvard Business Review Press), which explores how optimism can become a measurable advantage in tough times.

Previously, Michelle served as anchor of The CBS Morning News. She is an executive producer of The Happiness Advantage on PBS and a featured professor in Oprah’s Happiness course. Her research has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, CNN, and Harvard Business Review.

Michelle has worked with leading organizations including Google, Meta, Microsoft, American Express, Bank of America, and Boston Children’s Hospital. She holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in computer engineering from Tufts University.

Michelle lives in Dallas with her husband, fellow positive psychology researcher Shawn Achor, and their two children.