Ashley Whillans is a professor at Harvard Business School. In both 2015 and 2018, she was named a Rising Star of Behavioral Science by the International Behavioral Exchange and the Behavioral Science and Policy Association. In 2016, she cofounded the Department of Behavioral Science in the Policy, Innovation, and Engagement Division of the British Columbia Public Service Agency. Her first book, Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life, was published in October 2020.

Prior to joining Harvard, she was a visiting scholar and guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Her dissertation research on time and happiness won the 2018 CAGS Distinguished Dissertation Award for being the best PhD thesis in Canada across the fine arts, humanities and social sciences.