McConnell, Robert A. (1914-)

Biophysicist and parapsychologist who was president of the Parapsychological Association in 1958. McConnell was born in Pennsylvania in 1914, and studied at Carnegie Institute of Technology (B.S., physics, 1935) and the University of Pittsburgh (Ph.D., physics, 1947). He worked as a physicist with Gulf Research and Development, at a U.S. Naval aircraft factory (1937-41), and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Radiation Laboratory, where he was a group leader (1944-46). While at MIT he read of J. B. Rhine 's work in parapsychology and, intrigued, delved into the literature of psychical research.

After graduation McConnell joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh where he remained until his retirement in 1984, when he was named research professor emeritus. In addition to his work in parapsychology, he also specialized in radar moving target indication, theory of the iconoscope, and ultrasonic microwaves. He was unusual for a parapsychologist in an academic appointment in that he was able to spend the majority of his research time in parapsychological work throughout his active career. He was a founding member of the Parapsychological Association and was the organization's first president (1957-58). He later served a second term in that office (1977-78).

In addition to his articles in technical journals, McConnell has written widely on parapsychology. He contributed chapters to a Ciba Foundation symposium on Extrasensory Perception (1956) and a symposium edited by Eileen J. Garrett, Does Man Survive Death? During his retirement he wrote Parapsychology in Retrospect: My Search for the Unicorn (1987).

Sources:

Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York: Paragon House, 1991.

McConnell, Robert A. Encounters with Parapsychology. Pittsburgh, Pa.: The Author, 1982.

——. ESP Curriculum Guide. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1971.

——. An Introduction to Parapsychology in the Context of Science. Pittsburgh, Pa.: The Author, 1983.

——. Parapsychology and Self-Deception in Science. Pittsburgh, Pa.: The Author, 1982.

——. Parapsychology in Retrospect: My Search for the Unicorn. Pittsburgh, Pa.: The Author, 1987.

McConnell, Robert A., and Gertrude Schmeidler. ESP and Personality Patterns. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1958.

Pleasants, Helene, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Parapsychology. New York: Helix Press, 1964.