Henry Murray

Henry Alexander Murray (May 13, 1893 – June 23, 1988) was an American professor of psychology at Harvard University. Despite no formal training in psychology (Murray was a medical doctor trained in biochemistry), he made several notable contributions to the field. Murray developed the “personology” theory of personality. Murray was also a co-developer, with Christiana Morgan, of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), a projective measure of personality widely used for many years.

Murray was invited to join the psychology faculty at Harvard in 1926, serving as Director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic from 1928 until 1937, when he left to work with the U.S. Government during World War II. Murray returned to Harvard after the war ended. In his later years at the university (1959 to 1962), Murray led a series of experiments on how beliefs held up under extreme stress. The experiments have since been recognized as likely unethical due to their psychologically damaging and purposefully abusive nature, along with the use of deception and unclear scientific benefit. One participant in the study was Ted Kaczynski, who later gained notoriety as the Unabomber.