Penguin Speakers Bureau
Biography
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a trained and published neuroanatomist. Her specialty was in the postmortem investigation of the human brain as it relates to schizophrenia and the severe mental illnesses. Having a brother who has been diagnosed with the brain disorder schizophrenia, Dr. Taylor served for t …
Read moreDr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a trained and published neuroanatomist. Her specialty was in the postmortem investigation of the human brain as it relates to schizophrenia and the severe mental illnesses. Having a brother who has been diagnosed with the brain disorder schizophrenia, Dr. Taylor served for three years on the Board of Directors of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) from 1994 through 1997. She currently serves as President of the Greater Bloomington affiliate of NAMI in Bloomington, Indiana.
Because there is a long-term shortage of brain tissue donated for postmortem research by individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, Dr. Taylor travels as the national spokesperson for the mentally ill for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (also known as the Harvard Brain Bank) located at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. As the “Singin’ Scientist,” she delivers this very popular keynote address, titled “How to Get Your Brain to Do What You Want It to Do.”
But as irony would have it, on December 10, 1996, Dr. Taylor woke up to discover that she was experiencing a rare form of stroke, an arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Two and a half weeks later, on December 27, 1996, she underwent major brain surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital to remove a golf ball–sized blood clot that was placing pressure on the language centers in the left hemisphere of her brain.
It took eight years for Dr. Taylor to successfully rebuild her brain—from the inside out. In response to the swelling and trauma of the stroke, which placed pressure on her dominant left hemisphere, the functions of her right hemisphere blossomed. Among other things, she now creates and sells unique stained-glass brains when commissioned to do so. Dr. Taylor also published a book about her recovery from her stroke and the insight she gained into the workings of her brain. Her New York Times–bestselling memoir is titled My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey.
In May of 2008, Time magazine chose Dr. Taylor as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, and she was the premiere guest on Oprah’s Soul Series webcast. Her interview with Oprah and Dr. Mehmet Oz on the Oprah Winfrey Show aired on October 21, 2008.
Check out Dr. Jill’s website at www.drjilltaylor.com.
Speaking Topics
- My Stroke of Insight
Dr. Jill focuses on her personal story: why she grew up to study the brain, her research activities, and her own brain disorder.
- How to Get Your Brain to Do What You Want It to Do
How to create a healthy environment for the cells inside our heads, and how to communicate with those cells for optimum health and performance
- Who’s Who Inside of You?
How to identify the two very different personalities within each of our hemispheres with an intention of developing our ability to choose, moment by moment, who and how we want to be in the world
- How to Capitalize on Our Two Hemispheres
Dr. Jill focuses on the talents and skills of each of our hemispheres and how to develop them effectively.
- Ninety Seconds to Happiness
Understanding how the choices we make and the thoughts we think directly influence our level of joy
- Compassion in Medicine
Dr. Jill focuses on health care and the different approaches and options for caregivers dealing with people in need
Dr. Jill is happy to create an original topic in order to cater her presentation to an organization’s specific needs.
Featured Book
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My Stroke of Insight
"[Dr. Taylor] brings a deep personal understanding to something she long studied: that the two lobes of the brain have very different personalities."—The New York Times 
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