Building Better Leaders Through the Science of Happiness

The Lubin School of Business is launching a bold new initiative this fall aimed at reshaping how students understand success—and themselves.

The Center for Leadership and Emotional Intelligence, housed within the Lubin School of Business was created in partnership with Harvard professor and Kennedy school professor Arthur Brooks, who also runs the Leadership and Happiness Laboratory. The Center introduces a free six-session, non-credit program designed to teach Pace University students the science behind happiness and how it intersects with transformative leadership.

Ipshita Ray, PhD, a graduate program chair in Lubin, is the driving force behind the center. Her vision, born from a personal journey of resilience and renewal, has transformed into a mission to empower students with tools that go beyond theory.

From Adversity to Action

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Ray’s vision for the center emerged during one of the most difficult chapters of her life: a battle with stage three cancer.

“I’ve been blessed with a second chance, and my mission is not to waste it, but to do something meaningful,” she explains. “I truly believe that my Pace Community, my colleagues and friends, saved my life.”

Her return to teaching, especially during COVID-19, was met with a profound awareness of how deeply her students were struggling to navigate the world and find purpose. “I realized the students were hurting inside,” Ray says. “I didn’t want to just teach them material for academic purposes. I wanted to do something with impact.”

That “something” became a letter to Arthur Brooks, PhD, at Harvard Kennedy School. She read his book From Strength to Strength during her battle with cancer and was moved by his work at Harvard Kennedy School’s Leadership and Happiness Laboratory.

Ray reached out to Brooks and shared her story—and a proposal. She wanted to bring his work and her story to Pace.

Purposeful Partnerships

Brooks, renowned for his bestselling book Build the Life You Want (co-written with Oprah Winfrey), has long advocated for embedding the science of happiness into leadership education. His lab at Harvard creates research and training for leaders across government, business, and academia.

Ray worked in conjunction with Brooks to develop a curriculum based on his work and her own experiences here at Pace. “The lessons are designed around how happiness can be a daily practice—how you can take it from a feeling to a state of being,” Ray explains. “It’s about converting negative energy into positive energy.”

It’s about building leaders with a foundational happiness that allows them to elevate the people that surround them.

Each of the six in-person sessions focuses on a different facet of emotional intelligence and practical leadership. “This program is about building leaders who lift others up,” Ray explains. “Leaders whose main purpose is service, not wealth or power. It’s about building leaders with a foundational happiness that allows them to elevate the people that surround them.”

The center is backed by Lubin Dean Emeritus and former NBCUniversal president Neil Braun, who has pledged funding support and will co-teach the course alongside Ray, tying Ray’s curriculum into real-world leadership skills. Upon completion, students will receive a certificate indicating they’ve taken part in a curriculum designed by Harvard Kennedy School faculty in collaboration with Lubin and take part in a networking event featuring C-suite leaders and recent Pace alumni.

High Hopes for Spreading Happiness

Though the initiative launches within Lubin this fall, Ray already has high hopes for the future of the center. She hopes to expand the offering across Pace, to help bring the curriculum to other New York schools, and even establish a formal dual-degree program with Harvard.

“I want to make this a major movement,” she says. “My hope is to expand the program University-wide, which would allow Harvard to list us on their website, invite us to symposia, and co-lead research.”

I want to make this a major movement.

Her goal for the present, however, is to help the students of Pace right now.

“How can you lead if you don’t see the value in yourself or others?” Ray asks. Her hope in bringing the science of happiness to Pace students is to empower them to not only learn and lead better, but to live better.

In an era where young people feel more alone and purposeless than ever, Ray believes programs like this are not just helpful, they’re necessary. “I want students to understand they have complete agency over their choices,” Ray says. “I believe a winning life is a choice, that happiness is a choice.”

The Center for Leadership and Emotional Intelligence is open to all Lubin students. Learn more about the Center and how you can get involved.