William Desmond Sturdevant

Professor of art who was active in the field of parapsychology. He was born July 3, 1922, in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended Drake University, Des Moines (B.S. education, 1945; M.S. education, 1947) and following graduation became an art instructor at New Mexico Western College, Silver City (1947-48). He afterward taught at Minnesota State College at Mankato (1948-55); was an art supervisor for the Joliet public schools, Joliet, Illinois (1955-59); and was assistant professor of art at California Western University, San Diego (1959-61). A practitioner as well as a teacher, Sturdevant has works in the permanent collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and has exhibited widely. He made experimental studies concerning extrasensory color perception and from his findings published two monographs. He was a charter associate of the Parapsychological Association.

Sources:

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

Sturdevant, William D. Extrasensory Color Perception. N.p., 1958.

——. Fluorescent Color Perception and Graphic Response in the Perceptually Impaired Child. N.p., 1957.