Kali Prasad was a prominent Indian psychologist and academic. He contributed to the development of psychology education in India and conducted significant research in parapsychology and social and clinical psychology. He served as head of the Department of Philosophy and Psychology at Lucknow University from 1944[1] and was a Fulbright Visiting Professor at MIT from 1954 to 1956. At the time of his passing,he was leading a UNESCO research project on "Industrialization and Social Change".
Kali Prasad became a professor and head of the Department of Philosophy and Psychology at Lucknow University in 1944,where he played a pivotal role in establishing a postgraduate course in psychology in 1950. The department was founded by Professor N. N. Sengupta,who relocated from Calcutta University in 1929. In 1953,psychology was introduced as an optional subject for undergraduate students. Prasad focused his research on social and clinical psychology,as well as psychometrics. He served as a Fulbright Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1954 to 1956. He was later appointed as the 12th Vice-Chancellor of Lucknow University,[3] a position he held from 1960 to 1961.
Research
Following his tenure as Vice-Chancellor,Prasad worked as a Research Consultant at the India International Centre in New Delhi. At the time of his sudden death in 1961,he was leading a UNESCO research project titled "Industrialization and Social Change:A Value Approach".[4] As part of this project,he traveled to several Southeast Asian countries and visited the University of the Philippines,where he was the inaugural speaker at the Lecture Forum Series of the International Association of Schools (IAS).[citation needed]
Featured in In the Minds of Men (1953) by Gardner Murphy. Prasad had a keen interest in telepathy and psychokinesis,engaging in various research projects funded by the Parapsychology Foundation that focused on extrasensory perception (ESP) and the influence of interpersonal relations between subjects and experimenters on ESP results.
Catalogue Of Oriental Manuscripts In The Lucknow University Library[8]
Legacy
In recognition of his contributions to psychology,the Prof. Kali Prasad Memorial Research Prize[9] was established to honor the best Ph.D. or D.Litt. thesis in psychology at Lucknow University. Notably,the prize was awarded in 2010 for the best Ph.D. thesis in the Department of Psychology.
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