Early Life & Entry into Parapsychology

Stanley Krippner was born on October 4, 1932, in Geneva, Illinois. He developed early interests in hypnosis, dreaming, and anomalous experiences, pursuing undergraduate studies in psychology and education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His curiosity about altered states and the boundaries of human consciousness led him toward parapsychology and transpersonal psychology (sources: Psi Encyclopedia, Wikipedia).

Career Milestones & Contributions

Academic and Clinical Foundations

Krippner earned his PhD in Educational Psychology from Northwestern University in 1961. He taught at various institutions, focusing on child development, creativity, and educational innovation before turning to consciousness research full-time (sources: Psi Encyclopedia, APA archives).

Maimonides Dream Laboratory (1964–1973)

From 1964 to 1973, Krippner served as director of the Maimonides Medical Center Dream Laboratory in Brooklyn, New York. Alongside Montague Ullman and others, he designed controlled experiments testing telepathy in dreams, where a “sender” attempted to influence a sleeping subject’s dream content. These studies yielded statistically significant results in several series and became central to the “dream telepathy” literature (sources: Psi Encyclopedia, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research).

Humanistic & Transpersonal Psychology

Krippner expanded his focus beyond parapsychology to encompass creativity, hypnosis, shamanism, and transpersonal states. He collaborated with anthropologists and indigenous healers to study dreams and altered states in cultural contexts (sources: Association for Humanistic Psychology, Psi Encyclopedia).

Saybrook University

Krippner became a faculty member at Saybrook University (formerly the Humanistic Psychology Institute), where he trained graduate students in qualitative and quantitative research methods, transpersonal psychology, and psychophysiology (sources: Saybrook University, Psi Encyclopedia).

Experimental and Scholarly Contributions

• Dream Telepathy Experiments: Directed and published multiple studies on telepathic influence during REM sleep, using controlled protocols and independent content analysis.
• Altered States Research: Investigated the phenomenology of shamanic trance, psychedelic experiences, and hypnosis, emphasizing cross-cultural perspectives.
• Parapsychology & Creativity: Explored the relationship between psi phenomena, creativity, and personality traits.
• Integrative Publications: Authored and edited influential books, including Dream Telepathy (with Ullman and Vaughan), Extraordinary Dreams, and Varieties of Anomalous Experience (APA Press).

Impact & Legacy

• Methodological Rigor in Dream Research: Brought controlled experimental design to one of the most intriguing areas of parapsychology.
• Cross-Cultural Integration: Helped bridge Western science with indigenous and non-Western understandings of altered states.
• Educational Influence: Mentored generations of researchers in consciousness and humanistic psychology.
• Public Communication: A frequent lecturer and media guest, advocating for open-minded but critical inquiry into unusual human experiences.

Summary Timeline

Bottom Line

Stanley Krippner is a pioneering figure who merged rigorous experimental work in dream telepathy with a broader exploration of human consciousness across cultures. His legacy lies in his ability to balance empirical inquiry with openness to the rich variety of human experience.