Allan Hamilton

Allan Hamilton is a Harvard-trained brain surgeon and holds professorships in Neurosurgery, Radiation Oncology, Psychology, and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona. The State of Arizona recently bestowed on him its highest academic accolade, naming him a Regents Professor of Surgery. Hamilton has had a lifelong love affair with the horse. He was raised by a grandfather who was an Austrian cavalry officer and a rider in the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. He is the author of six books, including two award-winning books on horses: Zen Mind, Zen Horse: The Science and Art of Training Horses, and Lead With Your Heart: Lessons from a Lifetime with Horses. Zen Mind, Zen Horse was awarded the Nautilus Gold Award for spiritual nonfiction. Previous winners include Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His equine work has been showcased on NBC's Today Show, ABC News, CNN, and PBS. He is a frequent guest on NPR and has been featured in Western Horseman, Equus, Horse & Rider, and Spirituality and Health. He is currently at work on a seventh book on the human brain to be published by Alfred Knopf in the Spring of 2024.He has been a well-known horse trainer in the US and abroad for more than thirty years. His work with horses was featured in an award-winning, full-length documentary film by Emmy-award-winning director Wayne Ewing, entitled Playing with Magic. Dr. Hamilton was named Horseman of the Year in 2012 and has been internationally recognized for his advocacy for preserving wild horse populations in the United States and around the world. He lives in Tucson, AZ with his wife Jane, who is a clinical psychologist.