Open Access

Weiting Ng, William Tov, Ruut Veenhoven, Sebastiaan Rothmann, Maria José Chambel, Sufen Chen, Matthew L. Cole, Chiara Consiglio, Arianna Costantini, Jesus Alfonso Daep Datu, Zelda Di Blasi, Susana Llorens Gumbau, Alexandra Huber, Saskia M. Kelders, Jeff Klibert, Hans Henrik Knoop, Claude-Hélène Mayer, Mirna Nel, Marisa Salanova, Marijke Schotanus-Dijkstra, Rebecca Shankland, Akihito Shimazu, Peter M. ten Klooster, Maria Vera, Maria A. J. Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, Llewellyn Ellardus van Zyl

• Prof. Edward (Ed) Diener (1946-2021), a pioneer in positive psychology, passed away on the 27th of April 2021 at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah (Salt Lake City Tribune, 2021). As one of the most influential psychologists of the discipline, Ed Diener pushed the boundaries of our understanding of positive psychological functioning, subjective well-being, and happiness (Layous, 2020). As one of the Top 200 most cited researchers across all disciplines and fields, he will be most remembered for founding the scientific study of subjective well-being (SWB) and happiness (Bakshi, 2019). Diener developed the concept of subjective well-being by exploring the factors that influence people's life satisfaction (Diener et al., 2017a). He studied the individual causes of subjective well-being, such as close social relationships, income, meaning and purpose, personality, and societal causes, such as economic development, low corruption and crime, and a healthy environment (Diener et al., 2018). His research has discovered both universal and culture-specific causes and consequences of SWB and influenced governmental policy (Oishi et al., 1999). In respect of his memory, the purpose of this paper is threefold: (a) to reflect upon his career journey, (b) to celebrate his significant contributions to the discipline, and (c) to provide personal reflections of those who worked closely with him over the past 50 years.