Murray Nossel

Murray Nossel, Ph.D., practiced as a clinical psychologist before obtaining a doctorate in social work at Columbia University, where he taught an advanced research methods course in Life Histories and Narratives. He is an executive coach at Columbia Business School. He is also an Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker, teacher, and performer. Nossel currently directs Narativ, a company he co-founded with Paul Browde, which has developed a specialized methodology to train individuals, groups, and organizations in the skills and art of storytelling. Narativ’s clients include the Walt Disney Company, Time Warner, New York Habitat, and Radisson Hotels. Narativ also consults with nonprofit organizations around the world that use personal storytelling as a medium for empowerment, leadership training, team building, and education, including UNICEF, the Open Society Institute, the International Transport Worker Federation, and the Memory Box Project in South Africa. Nossel is co-writer and co-performer, with Paul Browde, of the storytelling performance Two Men Talking, which has been performed at the Edinburgh Festival, on London's West End, and Off-Broadway in New York. Nossel's documentary films have screened in film festivals across the world, including Sundance, Full Frame, and IDFA Amsterdam. In 2003, he received an Academy Award nomination and a Henry Hampton Prize for Why Can't We Be a Family Again? He was awarded a Cine Golden Eagle for A Brooklyn Family Tale, which aired on PBS in 2002; and his feature-documentary, Paternal Instinct, received six festival awards, including best documentary and best film, aired on HBO and the BBC, and screened in over 40 film festivals across the world. Nossel is also director of Turn to Me featuring Nobel Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel. In 2005, Nossel received a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism.