The_Info_Web/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Robert M. Brier.md

category	tags	created	updated	aliases	summary	relations
Scientists & Researchers	Parapsychology Psi Philosophy Egyptology InstituteForParapsychology NewSchool	2026-10-09	2026-10-09	Robert M. Brier Robert Brier Dr. Robert M. Brier	Robert M. Brier was a research fellow at the Institute for Parapsychology, later a philosophy professor at C.W. Post College, and then an Egyptologist at the Webb Institute.	type with role start end fn participant_in New School for Social Research Graduate student, studies in psychology and phenomenology 1964 1966 1 type with role start end fn employed_by New School for Social Research taught the course Experimental Parapsychology, spring 1975 1975 1975 6 type with role start end fn employed_by Institute for Parapsychology Research fellow 1966 1970 1 type with role start end fn employed_by C.W. Post College Assistant professor, associate professor, professor; chairman of the philosophy department 1980 to 1996 1971 2003 1 type with role start fn employed_by Webb Institute Adjunct assistant professor (Egyptology) 2012 1

Robert M. Brier was a research fellow at the Institute for Parapsychology in Durham, North Carolina, in the late 1960s, taught philosophy at C.W. Post College of Long Island University for three decades, and later joined the faculty of the Webb Institute as an Egyptologist.¹

Education

Brier received an A.B. from Hunter College in 1964 and studied psychology and phenomenology at the graduate school of the New School for Social Research from 1964 to 1966.¹ A Ph.D. dated 1970 is recorded for him, with the institution printed as "University of North Caroline."¹

Parapsychology research, 1966 to 1970

Brier was a research fellow at the Institute for Parapsychology, formerly the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory, in Durham from 1966 to 1970.¹ A 1975 bibliography of parapsychology lists Joseph B. Rhine's Parapsychology Today (New York: Citadel Press, 1968) as co-written with Robert Brier.²

With S. R. Feather, Brier published "The possible effect of the checker in precognition tests" in the Journal of Parapsychology in 1968.³ The March 1971 issue of the Journal of Parapsychology carries an article on repetitions of the French precognition experiments with mice, in which the authors state that Dr. Robert Brier made important contributions at several points.⁴

C.W. Post College and Long Island University

A 1975 directory lists "Dr. Robert M. Brier" in the philosophy department of C.W. Post College (Long Island University).⁵ His career there is recorded as an assistant professorship from 1971 to 1974, an associate professorship from 1974 to 1980, a professorship from 1980 to 2003, and the chairmanship of the philosophy department from 1980 to 1996. From 2003 he is recorded as a senior research fellow there.¹

New School listing

The 1975 directory also lists Brier under the New School for Social Research, at 66 West 12th Street, together with Martin Ebon and Gilbert Roller and others.⁵ The school's Bulletin for spring 1975 lists the course "Experimental Parapsychology," taught by Bob Brier on Wednesdays from February 5 and covering telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition and "a history of the development of parapsychology from magic to science," and a course on Egyptian culture; its faculty biography reads "Bob Brier, Ph.D., University of North Carolina; Research Fellow, Institute for Parapsychology. Associate Professor of Philosophy, C. W. Post College. Member, Parapsychological Association. Editor, with J. B. Rhine, Parapsychology Today; author, Precognition and the Philosophy of Science."⁶

Egyptology and publications

From 2012 Brier is recorded as an adjunct assistant professor of Egyptology at the Webb Institute.¹ His publications include Egyptomania: Our Three Thousand Year Obsession with the Land of the Pharaohs (New York: Macmillan, 2013), Secret of the Great Pyramid, with Jean-Pierre Houdin (Smithsonian, 2008), and "Return to the Great Pyramid," Archaeology (July-August 2009). His listed honors include a Fulbright fellowship to Turkey (1985), a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship in Islamic science at Columbia University (1986), and the David Newton Award for Excellence in Teaching (1988).¹

Footnotes

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1. Webb Institute, faculty profile, "Robert M. Brier," curriculum vitae as posted. https://www.webb.edu/academics/faculty/robert-m-brier/ ↩︎

2. CIA CREST, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230018-6, references list of Walter and Mary Jo Uphoff, New Psychic Frontiers (Minneapolis: Bolger Publications, 1975): "Rhine, Joseph B. (with Robert Brier), Parapsychology Today, Citadel Press, New York (1968)." https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00788r001200230018-6 ↩︎

3. S. R. Feather and R. Brier, "The possible effect of the checker in precognition tests," Journal of Parapsychology 32 (1968): 167-175, as listed in the bibliography of CIA CREST, CIA-RDP96-00789R002200410001-2. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00789r002200410001-2 ↩︎

4. Walter J. Levy, Jr., L. Allen Mayo, Jr., et al., "Repetition of the French Precognition Experiments with Mice," Journal of Parapsychology 35, no. 1 (March 1971), acknowledgment, CIA CREST, CIA-RDP96-00787R000400100021-6. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00787r000400100021-6 ↩︎

5. Walter and Mary Jo Uphoff, New Psychic Frontiers (Minneapolis: Bolger Publications, 1975), chapter V, pp. 228-229 (C.W. Post College and New School for Social Research entries). CIA CREST, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230018-6. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00788r001200230018-6 ↩︎

6. New School for Social Research, New School Bulletin, spring 1975, vol. 32, no. 5 (December 27, 1974), course 2750-0 (p. 88), Egyptian culture course (p. 82), faculty biography (p. 328). https://books.google.com/books?id=Ez07AAAAMAAJ ↩︎