John Cacioppo is the co-author with William Patrick of the influential Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection, published by W. W. Norton. Nature commended the book as “a strong message for the lay reader about the importance of social interaction and the feeling that you are part of the social fabric of your society.”
John died unexpectedly in 2018. He was the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor at The University of Chicago and the Director of the University of Chicago Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience.John’s research investigates the social and neural mechanisms underlying complex human behavior through an approach termed social neuroscience. There have been important advances in our understanding of the links between the mind, brain, and behavior over the past century, but it has been conventional to conceptualize individuals as somewhat isolated units of analysis. Social neuroscience represents an interdisciplinary approach devoted to understanding how biological systems implement social processes and behavior and to using biological concepts and methods to inform and refine theories of social processes and behavior.
Among John’s many honors, he received the Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychophysiology, the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association, the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences, the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychophysiology from the Society for Psychophysiological Research, and the Donald Campbell Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.