Danny Torrance has always been captivated by the fortitude of the human spirit and one’s ability to find hope and meaning in even the darkest moments of life. It’s no surprise that he attributes Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning as the catalyst for his interest in positive psychology. Danny started his career as an eager aspiring social worker, working as a case manager for a non-profit organization that coordinated services to help individuals with disabilities live independently in the community instead of a nursing home.

“I applied to the Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program because I felt I could use the research to help raise African-American bar exam pass rates," says Dwayne Allen Thomas (MAPP ’16), Senior Court Attorney to Honorable Cenceria Edwards in the New York Civil Court of Kings County. "I feel prepared to implement what I’ve learned over the course of the past year to make that happen.” 

By education, TJ is a Chartered Accountant. Professionally, he is the Director General of Police in India, and Chief of Police in Chandigarh, a territory with a population of 1.3 million. In his role, he commands a force of 7,500 police officers. TJ is passionate about women’s protection, children’s rights and social justice.

“When I was a child, my grandmother gave me a copy of a book called The Golden Gems of Life that explained how to live life to its fullest. So, I have always been familiar with the concept of positive psychology. However, I first learned about the Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program when I read Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman’s book Flourish,” recalls Christine Robinson, a senior advisor and philanthropy consultant for a number of significant nonprofit organizations and foundations.

Celeste Caton (Master of Applied Positive Psychology ‘20) says she decided years ago that she would someday apply for the MAPP program and that it was just a question of when. She remembers the moment she identified positive psychology as a guiding principle for her life and a field she wanted to study formally. As a newly minted college graduate living in Tijuana, Mexico, she was working at a migrant shelter for women and children who had been deported from the United States or who had come to the border to seek refuge in the US.

"Peace is a prerequisite to learning," says Martín Blank, who was awarded the 2018 Christopher Peterson Memorial Fellowship by Penn’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program in recognition of outstanding service to others. "If students come to class angry or stressed out, or if they haven't had breakfast or enough sleep, my job isn't to cram in a math lesson.