Ashley Merryman

With Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman is the author of two New York Times bestsellers NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children and Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing (both published by Twelve/Hachette).

Using science to develop a fuller picture of our lives – as individuals and as a society –Ashley and Po have written cover stories for Newsweek and New York, as well as having written for Time, the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, and many others. Ashley has appeared on countless of radio and television shows around the world including: The Charlie Rose Show; The Tavis Smiley Show; Fox and Friends; @KatieCouric; CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 and CNN Newsroom; Canada AM; BBC World News; NPR's Tell Me More and On Point; and Kurt Andersen's Studio 360.

For their work, Ashley and Po have won nine national awards for their writing including: the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Journalism; the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Award for Science Journalism; an “Audie” from the Audio Publishers Association; two Clarion Awards; the Books for Better Life Award; the Mensa Press Award; and the award for Outstanding Journalism from the Council on Contemporary Families. And their work is considered so substantial that scientists themselves rely on their reporting: their work has been cited as a research authority in more than 80 preeminent academic journals and almost 260 books, and it is being used as text in universities around the world. You'll find references to their work in publications by the White House to speeches by politicians around the globe.

Ashley is an acclaimed public speaker, having appeared at such venues as Yale University, Cal Tech, American University, the Aspen Institute, PopTech, 92nd St. Y Tribeca, the Los Angeles Times Book Festival, and many other universities, conferences, and venues around the nation.

Previously, Ashley was an attorney and a speechwriter in the Clinton Administration. She lives in Los Angeles, directing a small all-volunteer tutoring program for inner-city kids since 1999. For her civic involvement, Ashley received commendations from both the Clinton and Bush Administrations.

Ashley has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the USC School of Cinematic Arts and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University.