{{Short description|American clinical psychologist}} {{Use American English|date=June 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Neil Clark Warren | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Neil Clark Warren | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1934|9|18|mf=yes}} | birth_place = [[Des Moines, Iowa|Des Moines]], [[Iowa]], U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = {{plainlist| * Clinical psychologist * seminary professor * Christian theologian }} | years_active = 1956–present | spouse = {{marriage|Marylyn Warren|March 22, 1959}}<ref name="NNDB">[http://www.nndb.com/people/597/000135192/ "Entry: Neil Clark Warren"], [[NNDB]]</ref> | children = 3 | website = {{URL|https://www.eharmony.com|eHarmony}} | alma_mater = Pepperdine University (B.A., 1956)<ref name="PEPPERDINENEWSROOM04082011">[http://newsroom.pepperdine.edu/magazine/2011/04/two-pepperdine-regents-named-campaign-cochairs "Two Pepperdine Regents Named Campaign Cochairs"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806140348/http://newsroom.pepperdine.edu/magazine/2011/04/two-pepperdine-regents-named-campaign-cochairs |date=August 6, 2017 }}, ''Pepperdine Newsroom'', April 8, 2011</ref><br />Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div., 1959)<br />University of Chicago (Ph.D., 1967) }}
'''Neil Clark Warren''' (born September 18, 1934) is an American [[Clinical psychology|clinical psychologist]], [[Christian theology|Christian theologian]], seminary professor and co-founder of the online relationship sites [[eHarmony]] and [[Compatible Partners]].
In 1995, Warren and his son-in-law, Greg Forgatch, created Neil Clark Warren & Associates, a company which offers seminars and teaching tools based on Warren's books. In early 2000, they established eHarmony, an online compatibility matching service which gained two million users in its first three years.<ref name="Slater58">{{cite book|last=Slater|first=Dan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJe8YuvGascC&pg=PT59|title=Love in the Time of Algorithms|location=London|publisher=Penguin|year=2013|pages=58–60|isbn=9781101608258}}</ref> After retiring in 2007, Warren came out of retirement in July 2012, returning as the chief executive of eHarmony.
==Early life and education== Born and raised near [[Des Moines, Iowa]], Warren developed an interest in compatibility when young. Although his parents' marriage lasted seventy years, Warren was frustrated by their inability to communicate with each other: "They had a nice marriage, but they were not a very well-matched couple. ... My dad was just so stinking bright, and my mom was so sweet, but she was two standard deviations below him in intelligence," Warren said. When his father ran for office in [[Polk County, Iowa|Polk County]], Warren's mother refused to vote because she didn't think one should meddle in politics.<ref name="Slater58" />
Warren received his undergraduate degree at [[Pepperdine University]] in 1956.<ref name="PEPPERDINENEWSROOM04082011"/> He got his master's in divinity at [[Princeton Theological Seminary]] in 1959. Warren received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the [[University of Chicago]] in 1967.<ref name="Slater58" />
==Career== ===Psychologist=== Warren is a former dean and psychologist at the Graduate School of Psychology at [[Fuller Theological Seminary]]. During these years, he worked in private practice as a clinical psychologist. In 35 years of therapy, Warren focused on marriage compatibility and performed many "divorce autopsies". In the process, Warren developed an interest in helping singles find lasting relationships.<ref name="Slater">{{cite book|last=Slater|first=Dan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJe8YuvGascC&pg=PT59|title=Love in the Time of Algorithms|location=London|publisher=Penguin|year=2013|page=59|isbn=9781101608258}}</ref>
===Author and businessman=== Warren has written about individuals finding the right marriage partner. He published his first pamphlet in 1975 entitled ''Selecting a Marriage Partner''. By 2013, Warren had written ten books, including ''Learning to Live with the Love of Your Life'', ''Love the Life you Live: 3 Secrets to Feeling Good—Deep Down in Your Soul'', and ''Date or Soul Mate?: How to Know If Someone Is Worth Pursuing in Two Dates or Less''.<ref name="Slater58" />
In 1995, Warren and his son-in-law Greg Forgatch established Neil Clark Warren & Associates, a company offering seminars and teaching tools based on Warren's book ''Finding the Love of Your Life'' (published in 1993). Building upon his writing on building strong marriages (including his book, ''Finding the Love of Your Life''), Warren and Forgatch started eHarmony in 2000 as a web-based method of matching singles for [[marriage]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eharmony.com/core/eharmony;jsessionid=i7Pn20gw3_L8?cmd=about-ncw|title=Eharmony | Online Dating Site for Like-Minded Singles}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> based on what are termed "29 dimensions of compatibility".<ref>[http://www.eharmony.com/core/eharmony?cmd=dimensions 29 Dimensions]</ref> Warren was chairman of the board of directors at eHarmony from its beginning. In 2007, he entered retirement to live in [[Kennebunkport, Maine]], with his wife Marylyn. Warren then returned to eHarmony as CEO in 2012. "I think we could have had a very good business forever matching people for marriage," Warren said in 2012 in an interview with the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. "But our sense was, we could do a lot more than that."<ref>Chang, A. (2012, December 13). "EHarmony founder has his heart set on reviving the dating site." ''Los Angeles Times''.</ref>
==Opinions== Warren's religious views strongly influence his work, though these views have at times come into conflict with his desire to expand his business. He has stated: "I think there is something very incredible about Jesus. I don't back away from that. At the same time ... the public we want to serve is the world."<ref name="Slater58" />
Warren's religious views were a reason for eHarmony's lacking [[Same-sex relationship|same-sex]] matches. In 2004, Warren explained his position by commenting: "cities like San Francisco, Chicago or New York ... they could shut [eHarmony] down so fast. We don't want to make enemies out of them. But at the same time, I take a real strong stand against same-sex marriage, anywhere that I can comment on it."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.family.org/married/youngcouples/a0021741.cfm |title=Interview with Neil Clark Warren |publisher=Focus on the Family |access-date=2004-03-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040225142236/http://www.family.org/married/youngcouples/a0021741.cfm |archive-date=2004-02-25 }}</ref>
Much of eHarmony's initial success was explained by Warren by its promotion on the daily radio broadcast of ''[[Focus on the Family]]''. As the company expanded and sought broader market share, Warren parted ways with ''Focus on the Family'' and its founder, [[James Dobson]]. In 2005, Warren discontinued his appearances on Dobson's radio show and bought back rights to three of his books—''Finding the Love of Your Life'', ''Make Anger Your Ally'', and ''Learning to Live with the Love of Your Life''—originally published by Focus on the Family. As Warren explained, "We're trying to reach the whole world—people of all spiritual orientations, all political philosophies, all racial backgrounds."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-05-18-eharmony_x.htm |work=USA Today |title=eHarmony: Heart and soul |first1=Janet |last1=Kornblum |date=2005-05-18 |access-date=2010-05-20}}</ref>
==Publications== * ''God Said It, Don't Sweat It'' {{ISBN|978-0-7852-8064-4}} * ''Finding Contentment'' {{ISBN|978-0-7852-7234-2}} * ''Finding the Love of Your Life'' {{ISBN|978-0-671-89201-2}} * ''Catching the Rhythm of Love'' {{ISBN|978-0-7852-7344-8}} * ''Make Anger Your Ally'' {{ISBN|1-56179-707-3}} * ''Falling in Love for All the Right Reasons'' * ''How to Know if Someone is Worth Pursuing in Two Dates or Less'' * ''Love the Life you Live'' * “‘Date or Soulmate’” (ISBN 078528303X)
==See also== * [[Helen Fisher (anthropologist)|Helen Fisher]] * [[Pepper Schwartz]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.eharmony.com/press-release/53/ Press release on Dr. Warren], eHarmony.com. * [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4803877 Interview with Warren] on ''[[Fresh Air]]'' with [[Terry Gross]], addressing the issue of providing services to those seeking same-sex matches. Audio file. * [http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/warren200502140751.asp Q&A with Warren] on ''[[National Review]]'', with comments on eHarmony demographics. * [http://www.onlinepersonalswatch.com/news/2013/02/dr-neil-clark-warren-ceo-of-eharmony-interview-at-idate-2013.html Interview with Dr. Warren at iDate] {{Fuller Theological Seminary|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Neil Clark}} [[Category:1934 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:20th-century American male writers]] [[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:20th-century American psychologists]] [[Category:20th-century American theologians]] [[Category:20th-century evangelicals]] [[Category:21st-century American male writers]] [[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:21st-century American psychologists]] [[Category:21st-century American Christian theologians]] [[Category:21st-century evangelicals]] [[Category:American Evangelical writers]] [[Category:American male non-fiction writers]] [[Category:Evangelical theologians]] [[Category:Fuller Theological Seminary faculty]] [[Category:People from Des Moines, Iowa]] [[Category:Pepperdine University alumni]] [[Category:Princeton Theological Seminary alumni]] [[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]