Cortland Dahl is a scientist, author, and meditation teacher dedicated to bridging ancient contemplative wisdom and modern science to help people flourish in an age of unprecedented change. His career weaves together three decades of meditative practice and rigorous scientific research into a unified vision of human potential.
Before his academic career, Cort spent nearly 10 years living in Tibetan refugee settlements across India and Nepal and completed more than a year of solitary retreat in the Himalayas. During this time, he became fluent in Tibetan and translated twelve volumes of classical meditation manuals that preserve some of the most important teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. His deep immersion in these traditions continues to inform his scientific and educational work today.
As a scientist at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Cort has co-authored research on the science of well-being and served as the lead architect of the Healthy Minds Framework — a comprehensive model of flourishing published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He also created the Healthy Minds Program, a widely used digital training platform that translates scientific insights and contemplative wisdom into accessible tools for cultivating awareness, connection, insight, and purpose.
Cort is the author of A Meditator’s Guide to Buddhism and the forthcoming Born to Flourish (with Richard J. Davidson), which synthesizes decades of research and practice into a vision for how individuals and societies can thrive. Through his teaching and writing, he continues to explore how timeless insights from contemplative traditions can inform the science of the mind and help relieve suffering in the modern world.
At heart, his work is animated by a simple but radical belief: that every human being possesses an innate capacity for wisdom and well-being, and that through the integration of ancient insight and modern science, we can learn to realize that potential — both individually and collectively.
