​Arthur Aron is a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, renowned for his research on intimacy in interpersonal relationships and for developing the self-expansion model of motivation in close relationships. He is perhaps best known for his 1997 study, "The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness," which introduced a set of 36 questions designed to foster closeness between strangers. These questions gained widespread attention after being featured in a 2015 New York Times essay titled "To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This" by Mandy Len Catron.​