Jean Decety is a neuroscientist and an internationally recognized expert on cognitive neuroscience and social neuroscience. His research focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning social cognition, particularly empathy, sympathy, emotional self-regulation and more generally interpersonal processes. He is Irving B. Harris Professor at the University of Chicago.

Jean Decety obtained two advanced Master degrees in 1985 (neuroscience) and in 1987 (biological and medical engineering sciences) and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1989 (neurobiology) from the Université Claude Bernard. After receiving his doctorate, he worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, in the Departments of Neurophysiology and Neuroradiology under the supervision of Per Roland. He then joined the National Institute for Medical Research (INSERM) in Lyon, France, until 2001.

Decety is currently professor at the University of Chicago and its College, with appointments in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry. He is the head of the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and co-director of the Brain Research Imaging Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Dr. Decety is an executive committee member of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience and a member of the Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Neuroengineering.