Founder and Director, Harvard International Negotiation Program
Associate Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital
Affiliate faculty, Program on Negotiation
The founder and director of the Harvard International Negotiation Program, Daniel Shapiro teaches a highly evaluated course on negotiation at Harvard College; instructs psychology interns at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital; and leads executive education sessions at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital. He also has served on the faculty at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and at the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Named one of the top 15 professors at Harvard University, Shapiro specializes in practice-based research—building theory and testing it in real-world contexts. He has launched successful conflict resolution initiatives in the Middle East, Europe, and East Asia, and for three years chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Conflict Resolution. Focusing extensively on the emotional and identity-based dimensions of negotiation and conflict resolution, Shapiro led the initiative to create the world’s first Global Curriculum on Conflict Management for senior policymakers as well as a conflict management curriculum that now reaches one million youth across more than 20 countries. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Psychological Association’s Early Career Award and the Cloke-Millen Peacemaker of the Year Award. In May of 2019, Shapiro was named Harvard’s Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the oldest of the teaching awards given out by the Undergraduate Council.
Education
B.A., Johns Hopkins University
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst
Research interests
Conflict resolution, negotiation, meditation, the role of emotions in negotiation
Selected publications
- Negotiating the Nonnegotiable: How to Resolve Your Most Emotionally Charged Conflicts. Penguin,
- With Roger Fisher. Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate. Penguin Books, 2006.
- “Before Your Next Fight, Read This.” O, The Oprah Magazine, October 2006.
- “Negotiating the Nonnegotiable: 4 Keys to Resolving Conflict with Your Kid.” Brightly.
- “Of Dating and Diplomacy.” New York Times, May 10, 2016.
- “Why We Are Addicted to Divisive Politics.” TIME, April 18, 2016.
I’m a current student at Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s doing my Mid-Career MPA degree. We had the privilege to have Prof Shapiro as our guest lecturer today and he did such an amazing job of quickly becoming one of our favorite lecturers in class. I just wanted to leave a comment to say that I’m already researching how to take more classes with Prof Shapiro as he is truly amazing and inspiring and I couldn’t wait to learn more from him. Lastly, the most important thing I have learned from you today, is appreciation. Thank you, Professor Shapiro.
Hello,
Professor Shapiro is running an online program for us on November 10 online. Check out our website to register.
Dear Dan: I need some more negotiating with emotion cards and am having some made. Would you like 200 or so?
Second, would you like to address a Professional Development meeting of the Mass Council on Family Mediation some
afternoon in the fall of 2020 or spring of 2021? Two hours in the Wellesley Library, any subject you think would be of
interest to about 50 active family mediators. I hope you’re thriving, John
Hi
I have forwarded your message to Dan Shapiro.
After listening to your Goop presentation, I will search to find all of your teachings. Such kind, concise advice that makes me feel stronger as a mother, wife and in my corporate role. Everyone could benefit from your translation of feelings, communication & compromise. Thank you for your amazing work!
I had come across your google talk on negotiation while having to lecture my class on negotiation. The authenticity of your talk about solving disputes and bringing harmony are of immense help. Many thanks again.
Kindest regards,
Lakshmi Subramanian
It was an honor to be part of the seminar with Dan in CT last week. I want to let him know that the last exercise of just saying one word turns out to be the most meaningful to me. My one word has stuck in my mind and continues to resonate.
Hello,
I have forwarded your message to Professor Dan Shapiro.
Dan,
Hope you are doing well. It’s been awhile since I last saw you here in Kentucky and I seemed to have lost your email address so I’m writing on this hoping it will make it to you. We need your suggestions on who we might contact as a trainer for a week long basic mediation training for Kentucky mediator. Do you have any trainers in mind? The fee will be somewhat generous and our ADR section will provide volunteers to assist. Thanks. Mike
Hi
I have forwarded your request to Dan Shapiro.
Message for Professor Shapiro
Dear Professor Shapiro:
On June 21, 2018, I had the honor of attending your class on “Leveraging the Power of Emotions as You Negotiate” at Harvard Law School. You were great. I remember you mentioned that you still have not come up with a good mnemonic for the “core concerns”. I started reading your book and here is one for you; AAA-Sr. (Triple A, Sir). Respectfully, Zaher Fallahi, Esq., CPA taxattorney@zfcpa.com
Hello,
I have passed along your comment to Dan Shapiro.
Dr. Shapiro, My successes had convinced me I knew what I was doing in problem and conflict resolution with all my students; individual, corporate, and institutional clients; and personal relationships, until I booked a stunning failure. Whether I am learning and applying the lessons from Negotiating the Nonnegotiable or not has yet to be seen, but the book is a mind-changer. Congratulations and thank you!
Dr. Shapiro, by far the best Big Think presentation about how negotiations work. Insightful and helpful. Thank you for deciphering the almost impenetrable human self-preservation mode.
Hi Daniel – we met centuries ago in Vancouver.. at the YGL Summit in Vancouver.. I’d love to invite you to Iceland, where we have an amazing gathering of women Presidents and Prime Ministers, and a discussion on “Power, together”, and how to get to peace. How to best reach you? If you can’t come yourself, an idea who would be (almost) as great of a contributor as you would be appreciated!
All the best
Silvana Koch-Mehrin
Dan, aside from being just a lovely person was the most exceptional lecturer when I took a 3 day course at Harvard. His cases were fantastic and he really pushes you to think critically and ethically.
I recently had the honour of meeting Professor Shapiro in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Where he was conducting an executive course on negotiation. Professor Shapiro truly is a scholar of negotiation, and has an amazing way of transferring his knowledge and passion about negotiation to his students. His methods approach negotiations as an art and teaches that the art of negotiation is not only relevant in business and diplomacy environments, but also on the personal level and Our most intimate relationships.
I practice collaborative divorce in Texas. Education is a key component. Confronting conflict head-on — as a substantive issue — is just one of my soapboxes. I understand these issues from the inside out as the mother of a 12-year old now in a therapeutic boarding school in Idaho and as a divorced person of someone who exhibits narcissistic behaviors. So, thank you for what you are doing to help us all, from international politics to nuclear families.