James B. Maas

Biography

Dr. James B. Maas is Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, Professor and past Chairman of Psychology, as well as a professor in the graduate fields of Education and Communication at Cornell University. He is also a professor at the Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar. Dr. Maas received his B.A. from Williams College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell. He teaches introductory psychology to 1,300 students each year and holds the world's record for college classroom teaching, having taught more than 65,000 students. Dr. Maas conducts research on sleep and performance, as well as on leadership and critical thinking.

Dr. Maas has held a Fulbright Senior Professorship to Sweden, has been a visiting professor at Stanford University and past-president of the American Psychological Association's Division on Teaching. Three times Professor Maas has been recognized as the faculty member most influential in mentoring a Cornell Merrill Presidential Scholar, so designated from the top 1% of the student body. He received the Clark Award for Distinguished Teaching at Cornell, and is the recipient of the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Teaching Award for being the nation's outstanding educator.

Dr. Maas is a noted filmmaker who has produced nine national television specials for PBS in this country, for the BBC in England, the CBC in Canada, and for Dutch, Danish and Swedish National Television. His films for such organizations as the National Geographic Society, General Motors, Exxon, Upjohn, Metropolitan Life, the McArthur Foundation and the United States Department of Transportation have won 44 major film festivals.

Dr. Maas is one of the nation's most sought after corporate, medical, association, education and professional athletic team speakers. He has presented highly acclaimed programs for such organizations as IBM, Eastman Kodak, Apple Computers, Campbell's Soups, Pepsi Cola, John Hancock, CitiGroup, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney, ING, Merrill Lynch, Million Dollar Roundtable, Le Club B, Pictet, USAA, Institutional Investor, Young President's Organization (YPO), World Presidents' Organization (WPO), World Business Council (WBC), Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), International Association for Exposition Management (IAEM), the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Ernst & Young, Mutual Life, Maytag, the Naval War College, US Navy, Beyer Pharmaceuticals, McNeil Labs, Abbott Labs, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, American College of Facial and Plastic Surgeons, American Urological Association, Urban Land Institute, United States Figure Skating Association, NBA Orlando Magic, the New York Jets, S. C. Johnson, Quaker Oats, Nestle, Simmons Company, Marriott Corporation, Starwood and Wyndham Hotels, Cunard, Crystal and Royal Cruise Lines, MCI/Universal Studios and scores of prep schools, colleges and universities.. Dr. Maas' book, Power Sleep, published by Random House and HarperCollins, is a New York Times business best-seller and published in 11 languages. His latest venture, Remmy and the Brain Train, is an award-winning children's bedtime story designed to help improve daytime alertness, mood and performance. In the past two years there have been over 200 articles in the popular press about Dr. Maas' work on sleep and performance. He appears frequently on national television on programs, such as the TODAY Show, NBC Nightly News, CNN, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, The View, Regis & Kelly, ABC's 20/20 and Oprah.