Cortland Dahl, Ph.D., is a scientist, author, translator, and meditation teacher with a lifelong passion for the art and science of human flourishing. He began meditating in the early 1990s, a path that led him across around the world—from Burmese monasteries to Japanese zendos—and to eight years in Tibetan refugee communities in Nepal and India. Along the way, he became fluent in Tibetan, earned a master’s in Buddhist studies, and published twelve volumes of translations.

Cort later completed a Ph.D. in Mind, Brain, and Contemplative Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His scientific research has been cited in thousands of times and includes a framework for cultivating well-being published in PNAS. He is also the creator of the award-winning Healthy Minds Program—a free mobile app downloaded over a million times and featured by outlets like The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and Vogue.

He is the author of A Meditator’s Guide to Buddhism and the forthcoming Born to Flourish, co-written with Dr. Richard Davidson. Cort is also a public speaker and leads retreats and courses worldwide on meditation and the science of well-being around the world.

He currently serves as Executive Director of Tergar International, a global network of meditation centers, and is a senior instructor in the Tergar community. He is also a scientist at UW-Madison's Center for Healthy Minds and Chief Contemplative Officer at Healthy Minds Innovations, the center’s affiliated non-profit.

Cort and his wife, Kasumi, split their time between Madison, Wisconsin and the boundary waters of Northern Minnesota. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, solitary meditation retreat, and spending time with his family.