Home | About Dr. Coren | Library/ Book Excerpts
Publications | Discussion Board | Contact Dr. Coren
Stanley Coren: Biography

Though best known to the public for his series of best-selling books on dogs, Stanley Coren is also well respected scientist and Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia.

He did his undergraduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and completed his doctorate Psychology at Stanford. In the scientific area he has has published many research related books, a widely used textbook on sensation and perception, and over 300 research reports in professional journals.

Stanley Coren was born in 1942 in Philiadelphia. He has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and his doctorate in Psychology is from Stanford University. After teaching at the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research, in New York City, he moved to the University of British Columbia, which is located in the city of Vancouver in Canada. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychology, and is also the Director of the Human Neuropsychology and Perception Laboratory there.


Click here to enlarge photo
His research has covered many areas of in psychology, including human vision and hearing, neuropsychology, brain, laterality, handedness, birth stress, sleep, behavior genetics and cognitive processing. He is a prolific researcher and has published over 300 items, including research reports in well respected scientific journals including: Science, Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, British Journal of Medicine, Psychological Review and others. He has also published 14 books and monographs for professionals and students.

One of these books is the textbook "Sensation and Perception" which is into its fifth edition and has consistently been the most used college text in North American courses on sensory and perceptual processes.

Coren has won a number of awards for his research, and the quality of his contribution to science has been recognized by a number of major scientific organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, the Canadian Psychological Association, the American Association of Applied and Preventative Psychology, and others, which have conferred upon him the title of Fellow. In addition his ability to communicate with people has been recognized by his winning of the Robert E. Knox Master Teacher Award and by his service on the American Psychological Association's, Public Information Committee.


Click here to enlarge photo
In addition to being a psychologist and researcher, Coren's life is filled with dog-related activities. He currently lives with an old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, named Banshee, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, named Dancer, a young Beagle named Darby and an orange cat (which really belongs to his wife Joan) named Loki. In addition to studying dog behavior and writing books about dogs, Coren is also an instructor with the Vancouver Dog Obedience Training Club. This is a non-profit organization which supports beginners dog training in the community (for the general public) as well as advanced dog training for dog handlers who wish to compete in dog obedience competitions at local and national levels. He has also participated in numerous dog obedience trials and competitions under the auspices of the Canadian Kennel Club and several of his dogs have gone on to become the top ranked dog of their breed in Canadian dog obedience competition.

He and his dogs have also been members of numerous award winning Precision Dog Obedience Teams and he participated in, and created the choreography for, teams entered in the first two years of Musical Freestyle Dog Obedience Competition in Canada. He is a supporter of the SPCA, and has been called upon to participate in numerous functions and fund raising activities aimed at providing shelter and finding homes for dogs.

Coren's easy-going style of interacting with people has made him popular with the media. In addition to his own national TV program on the Life Network called "Good Dog!" he has also give numerous interviews, and the been the subject of many programs and articles. On television he has been seen on CBS Good Morning America, NBC Today Show, CNN news, ABC National News, Canada AM, CBC National News, CBS National News, CBC's Fifth Estate, NBC's Dateline, CBS's 48 hours, ABC's Prime Time, CBC's 20/20, Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, Mory Povich, Charlie Rose, Dini Petty, Pamala Whalen, Vicki Gaberaux, and many others. He has also done many radio interviews, including national and syndicated radio programs such as The Osgood Report and Dan Rather in the U.S. and Arthur Black, Ideas, and Quirks and Quarks in Canada. His books and research findings have been covered extensively by the print media, including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post and San Francisco Examiner. Front page articles on some of his work has appeared in USA Today, the Globe and Mail, London Times, and the Los Angeles Times. Magazine articles about Coren have been published in Time, U.S. News and World Report, People, Macleans, Cosmoplitan, Saturday Night, Omni, Discovery, The Smithsonian, Entertainment Weekly, and many others. In addition to all of this, he is a regular contributor of original articles to a number of dog and pet related magazines, including Modern Dog, AnimalSense and Pets Magazine.

Favorite links: