Britain's first Parapsychology Professor

- 1 May 1989

The University of Edinburgh announced on Saturday 18 May that Dr Robert Morris had been invited and accepted an offer to become the first holder of the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh. Dr Morris, who is expected to take up his post at Edinburgh by 1 January 1986 is currently Senior Research Scientist in the School of Computer and Information Science at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York State, USA.

Commenting, the Principal of the University of Edinburgh, Dr John Burnett, said:

“As I made clear when it was announced

(in February, 1984) that the Koestler Trustees had offered to establish the Chair at Edinburgh, the decision to accept that offer had not been taken lightly, particularly in view of the controversial nature of parapsychological phenomena. There had, however, been overwhelming support both at Senatus and at the University Court for the proposal that the University should take the opportunity offered by the Koestler Endowment to further objective scientific research, as the Koestler Trustees put it, into ‘the capacity attributed to some individuals to interact with the environment by means other than the recognised sensory or motor channels’, in a critical and well-balanced intellectual climate’”.

“The post was subsequently advertised and attracted a worldwide field from whom the Selection Committee under my Chairmanship has chosen to appoint Dr Morris, on grounds of his scientific standing, proven interest, experience and achievement in parapsychological research and interest in and experience of the implications of the paranormal for philosophy, science and society.”

“Given the unique nature of this appointment in British universities, Dr Morris faces a considerable challenge. The Selection Committee is confident he is well-equipped to meet that challenge and cope with the wide public interest his research programme will attract”.

Dr Robert Morris, who is 42, took his first degree (Bachelor of Science) in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and went on to complete his PhD, dealing with the psychology of animal social behaviour, at Duke University, North Carolina. After two years as research coordinator for the Psychical Research Foundation, at Duke University, he held academic posts at the University of California at Santa Barbara and at Irvine, California, before moving to Syracuse University in New York State in 1980.

Dr Morris has a wide-ranging knowledge of the body of work on parapsychology and is currently President of the FParapsychological Association and Vice-President of the Society for Scientific Exploration. His publications include studies in animal behaviour and both detailed scientific assessments and popular critical accounts of parapsychological phenomena. His reputation is that of a cautious and rigorous researcher into, and interpreter of, parapsychological phenomena in a wide range of contexts.

Dr Morris and his wife, Joanna, have two daughters. Commenting on the announcement of his appointment, Dr Morris said:

“I and my family look forward to the move to Edinburgh, and I very much welcome the opportunity to further my researches from within an institution whose academic and scientific standards are internationally known. I believe it is important to keep an open mind on the causes of apparent psychical phenomena. Some of them may have perfectly ordinary explanations; others may need detailed and long-term scientific exploration and scrutiny.”

“I am planning to visit Edinburgh this Autumn, before taking up my post, and I hope there will be an opportunity then to speak in more detail about the likely pattern of my research as Koestler Professor at the University.”

1. The endowment (totalling over £500,000) for the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh has come from the Trustees of the writer and critic, the late Arthur Koestler, and his wife, who died in 1982. They directed, in their wills, that their residual estates should be applied to the founding and endowment of a Chair of Parapsychology in the United Kingdom. After discussions with a number of British universities, the Koestler Trustees offered the endowment to the University of Edinburgh and this was accepted by the University in February, 1984.

2. The Koestler Chair of Parapsychology is the first such established professorial post in Britain, and will be held in the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University, within the internationally known Department of Psychology, whose staff unanimously expressed the wish that the new Chair should be located within their Department.

3. The terms of the Koestler Bequest stipulate that the word ‘parapsychology’ is to be understood to mean the scientific study of ‘paranormal phenomena’, in particular, the capacity attributed to some individuals to interact with the environment by means other than the recognised sensory or motor channels. They also state that the Koester Chair is to be primarily a Research Chair, although the holder could well be invited to give some lectures or courses.

4. The scale of the endowment will also provide for the salary of some support staff, but the new Professor will be expected to seek additional funds for research. Detailed arrangements concerning the appointment of supplementary staff will be settled in due course.

Evening Post, 15 August 1988