[2][3] Salovey spent his early years in New Providence, New Jersey, and attended high school at Williamsville North High School in a suburb of Buffalo, New York, before moving to suburban Los Angeles in 1975, when his father was appointed a professor at the University of Southern California.

[6] After graduating from Stanford, Salovey moved to New Haven, Connecticut, to pursue doctoral studies in psychology at Yale University under the guidance of Judith Rodin.

He completed a dissertation entitled "The Effects of Mood and Focus of Attention on Self-Relevant Thoughts and Helping Intention" and an internship at the West Haven Veterans Administration Medical Center.

With John D. Mayer he significantly expanded the scope of the concept and authored several of the field's seminal papers, arguing that people have wide ranging abilities pertaining to emotional control, reasoning, and perceptivity.

In all, Salovey has authored or edited thirteen books translated into eleven languages and published more than 350 journal articles and essays.

[1][5] Having served in various administrative roles within the Department of Psychology for a decade, Salovey was appointed dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in January 2003.

[12] As Provost, Salovey oversaw major budget reductions caused by the 2008 recession, expansion of Yale's West Campus, the formation of Yale–NUS College, reform of tenure policies for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and an overhaul of sexual misconduct grievance procedures.

[27] His paternal grandfather, Yitzchak Leib was born in Jerusalem in 1895 to a community worker and pharmacist named Zalman Yoseph Soloveitchik (b.

The band has a rotating membership of Yale faculty, students, and residents of New Haven and released its first album, "Pick or Perish," in June 2013.

[28][29] He served as a trustee of the International Bluegrass Music Museum and on the advisory board of the Connecticut Folk Festival.

Salovey is married to Marta Elisa Moret, a 1984 graduate of the Yale School of Public Health, former Deputy Commissioner for the Connecticut Department of Social Services, and the president of Urban Policy Strategies, LLC.