Greg Walton ’00, a professor of psychology, coined the term “wise interventions” in a 2014 paper – which involves sensitivity to individuals’ underlying psychological processes in social situations – and has since emerged as a leader in the field. According to colleague and psychology professor Carol Dweck, Walton is “a leader in the field of wise interventions” and “one of the greatest psychologists of our time.”

Before Walton’s accomplishments in psychology however, he was an undergraduate at Stanford, who dressed up as Socrates for the annual Mausoleum Halloween party his freshman year. Wearing nothing but “a bed sheet and sprigs of something” in his hair, Walton recalled stopping at vents for gushes of warmth along his run back to his dorm. 

Returning to Stanford to teach in 2008 as an assistant professor in psychology, Walton has indeed made his mark in the field of social psychology at the university and beyond. Much of Walton’s interest in this work stems from his own experience with social psychology in high school.

Walton attended an “alternative school” without sports or a prom in Michigan. He was a part of his school’s Students Educating Each Other about Discrimination (SEED) group, which is where he first encountered the field of psychology through the early research of Stanford psychology emeritus professor Claude Steele. Steele researched stereotype threat, examining how changing the “representation of a test” can contribute to inequalities, Walton said. 

This led to Walton’s decision to pursue his undergraduate studies at Stanford. “Part of my attraction to Stanford… was that there was this really strong social science tradition in particular in social psychology,” he said.

Walton’s time at Stanford contributed to his ability to better understand his students, something many of his former students have noted. Having personally experienced the pacing of the quarter system as a student also helped him feel more empathetic towards his students as they navigate it.

According to Christina Bauer, a former visiting Ph.D. student in Walton’s lab, Walton “practices what he teaches,” Bauer wrote to The Daily. “He gives students and collaborators a lot of agency, and supports this agency.”

“Greg once commented to me: ‘I’ve never had a good idea by myself,’” Shannon Brady, an assistant professor of psychology at Wake Forest University, wrote to The Daily. 

Jason Okonofua Ph.D. ’15 echoed a similar sentiment, saying, Walton “cares and shows he cares.” When students ask him a question, not only will Walton answer it, he will discuss with the student their thoughts, build upon them, and then follow up with an email with additional sources.

Colleagues of Walton’s commented on his character, too. “He sees what we are capable of, even when we don’t see it ourselves,” Christine Logel, an associate professor of social development studies at the University of Waterloo wrote about Walton the The Daily.

His experiences in the classroom piqued his interest in exploring wise interventions with students as well as research. His next book, “Ordinary Magic: The Science of How We Can Achieve Big Change with Small Acts,” which is set to publish this March, explores those dynamics.

“My hope with the book is that each of us individually and interpersonally, then at institutional level, can see and be sensitive to the psychological processes that we often pass over for ourselves and for other people,” Walton said.

Walton’s care in applying what he’s learned about social psychology extends beyond the academic setting to the people around him as well. 

Christine Logel recalled a time that Walton looked after her 6-month-old daughter so Logel could attend a meeting. She remembered coming back to find Walton holding her daughter while she “stabbed” him with her popsicle. 

Walton also spent time with Okonofua’s daughter.

“He is the first person – other than me – who spoke to my infant daughter like she was an adult,” Okonofua wrote. “She loved it. I loved it. We all loved it. Like me, he knew that was a key way to contribute to healthy child development. She is definitely the wiser from it.”

Above all, those around Walton see his dedication to the field of psychology. 

Walton’s “deep commitment to and engagement in learning as a messy, beautiful, social endeavor” sets him apart from others, Brady wrote.