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William Braud, a major contributor to parapsychology and transpersonal psychology, died this spring. William had retired from 17 years of faculty status at Sofia University (formerly the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology) in 2009, and was living in Texas with his wife, Winona, and two Siberian husky dogs. After his death from cancer, his wife sent this message to his friends and colleagues: "It was William's explicit wish that he be cremated, and that his ashes (mixed with wild flower seeds) be spread at a select, private retreat. He also requested that there be no ceremony, no funeral service, no memorial, and no obituary to note his passing." In keeping with his wishes, these words will simply be a remembrance for him.
William's PhD was earned at the University of Iowa (1967), in experimental psychology. He was on the graduate faculty at the University of Houston (1967-1975) and conducted research and published on learning, memory, motivation, psychophysiology, and psychopharmacology. In 1971 he began consulting for the Mind Science Foundation in San Antonio, Texas, and from 1975-1992 was a senior research associate of the MSF, studying parapsychology, states of consciousness, psychophysiology, psychoneuroimmunology, and the use of psychological techniques for physical and mental health. William and the researchers at the foundation developed the concept of Psi Conducive States as facilitators of psychic performance, similar to the well replicated ganzfeld technique created by the research at Maimonides Medical Center in New York. The group also pioneered in remote viewing techniques.
William was an individual in whose presence paranormal things happened. He told one account in which a book of matches on the table burst spontaneously into fire shortly after an irritating secretary walked through. William said that he investigated the matches meticulously, but found no cause for the fire. Some days later he told this story to a visiting psychologist. As soon as he heard the story, the psychologist asked William, "You...