Robin Abrahams is an American author, journalist, and speaker. She writes the '' Boston Globe Magazine'' weekly

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ...

and

etiquette Etiquette () is the set of norms of personal behaviour in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviours that accord with the conventions and norms observed and practised by a ...

column "Miss Conduct".

Early life

Abrahams grew up in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

, and earned a BA in theater at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. She worked various jobs for six years, including theater publicist, stand-up comedian, and volunteer at a battered women’s shelter, before coming to Massachusetts for a 2002

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

in research

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

Business writing

Abrahams works as a

research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, th ...

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

, primarily writing

case studies A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular ...

. She has co-written business articles that appeared in the ''

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. ''HBR'' is published six times a year and is headquartered in Brighton, Ma ...

'', ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', and ''

MIT Sloan Management Review The ''MIT Sloan Management Review'' is a research-based magazine and digital platform for business executives published at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The print edition is published quarterly; the digital edition is updated daily. ...

''.

Miss Conduct

Abrahams has been writing the "Miss Conduct" column for the ''Boston Globe Sunday Magazine'' since 2005, and has hosted the Social Studies etiquette segment on the WGBH radio Emily Rooney Show since 2010. She has appeared on the ''

NBC Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It wa ...

'' to discuss her book and give advice on unemployment etiquette. Her book, ''Miss Conduct’s Mind Over Manners: Master the Slippery Rules of Modern Ethics and Etiquette'' was published by

Times Books Times Books (previously the New York Times Book Company) is a publishing imprint owned by the New York Times Company and licensed to Henry Holt and Company. Times Books began as the New York Times Book Company in 1969, when The New York Times Co ...

in May 2009. It was praised by both the ''

Richmond Times-Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatc ...

'' and the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' for amusing writing and common sense advice, though the latter said the author was "a little too fond of the latest advances in pop sociology".

Personal life

Abrahams lives in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

and is married to

Marc Abrahams Marc Abrahams is the editor and co-founder of ''Annals of Improbable Research'', and the originator and master of ceremonies of the annual Ig Nobel Prize celebration. He was formerly editor of the ''Journal of Irreproducible Results''. Abrahams ...

, author and publisher of the

Annals of Improbable Research The ''Annals of Improbable Research'' (''AIR'') is a bimonthly magazine devoted to scientific humor, in the form of a satirical take on the standard academic journal. ''AIR'', published six times a year since 1995, usually showcases at least one ...

. She gives talks about her conversion to Judaism.

References

External links

Miss Conduct
- Abrahams's blog at the Boston Globe.
Robin Abrahams
official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Abrahams, Robin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists American women columnists Boston University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences alumni Converts to Judaism Etiquette writers Journalists from Kansas Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts University of Kansas alumni Place of birth missing (living people)