Michael W. Fordyce

Michael W. Fordyce was an American psychologist and a pioneer researcher in the field of empirical happiness measurement and intervention. As a forerunner who approached "happiness" as an applied science, he ushered-in the modern academic branch of Positive Psychology
Fordyce contributed a happiness-measurement article to the journal Social Indicators Research, which ranked in the journal's top 2.4% most-cited articles. He demonstrated that happiness can be statistically measured and willfully increased.
Fordyce worked at Edison State Community College in Fort Myers, Florida where he taught a data-driven "happiness training program" in the form of a college-level course known as Personal Social Adjustment for over three decades.