The Info Web

Frank Haronian

Frank J. Haronian Jr. (1922-1994) was a New Jersey clinical psychologist, a New School Ph.D. (1963), and the investigator of MKULTRA Subproject 134, a 1961 physique study financed by the CIA.

Also known as
Frank J. Haronian Jr., Frank Haronian Ph.D., F. Haronian
Location
Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Mentioned on
4 pages
Last edited

Frank J. Haronian Jr. (1922-1994), who published as Frank Haronian, was a clinical psychologist who practiced in the Princeton area of New Jersey and the investigator of MKULTRA Subproject 134, a 1961 study of physique and personality financed by the CIA. He received his Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research in 1963, co-authored body-type studies with A. Arthur Sugerman between 1964 and 1967, and spoke and wrote for the Psychosynthesis Research Foundation.

Family and education

Haronian was born in Durham, North Carolina, in 1922 and lived in New York City before moving to Lawrenceville, New Jersey, in 1958.1 His father, Frank J. Haronian, was born in Constantinople. The records of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill list a Frank J. Haronian of Constantinople among graduate students for 1920 and 1921, and a Frank John Haronian, M.A., as instructor in French for 1922-1923.2 His mother, Violet E. Haronian, was born at Mikhalitch, Turkey, on December 23, 1896, and died at Ocean Grove, New Jersey, on May 3, 1981. Her obituary describes her as the widow of Frank J. Haronian, a former Captain in the United States Army who after his retirement taught French at the University of North Carolina and at Morris High School in New York City, and lists her survivors as two sons, one of them the subject.3

Haronian received a bachelor of science degree in 1943 from the City College of New York, where he was enrolled in the ROTC program. He enlisted in the Army, served as a sergeant in Paris during World War II, and afterward received a master's degree in education from City College.1 He began work in 1950 as a school psychologist in the Somerville School District of New Jersey and also worked in the school districts of Princeton and neighboring towns.1 In 1963 he received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the New School for Social Research in New York City.1

Subproject 134

Haronian was the investigator of MKULTRA Subproject 134.45 The subproject's status page gives its purpose as exploratory research on the relation of component patterns of physique to patterns of personality characteristics. It records the subproject as initiated in July 1961, at a cost of $22,000.00, with actual work expected to commence in September 1961.6

A memorandum for the record of May 29, 1961 calls the study "frankly exploratory in nature" and places its relevance to the Agency in its potential contribution to clandestine indirect assessment work carried out without the subject's awareness.7 The memorandum refers to the investigator only as "Mr." with the name blacked out, and states that he "is neither cleared nor witting of true Sponsor." It says that the research will provide a redacted doctor with data "useful in advancing his own research program (MKULTRA, Subproject 77)."

A memorandum of June 9, 1961, titled "Recommendation for Funding," recommends the $22,000 "despite the superficiality of the proposal and the questionable products which have issued from previous research." It says the work "fits into our indirect assessment requirement and will contribute to the Wechsler-Bellevue work" in which a redacted doctor is engaged.8

The proposal arrived as a revision in the form of a letter. It covered the year from September 1, 1961 to August 31, 1962, with a budget of $22,000 in which the stipend line was $10,800. It planned preparation from September to November 1961, testing and data collection from December 1961 to May 1962, and analysis from June to August 1962, with at least 100 subjects and possibly as many as 150.9 The letter says the author would devote his full attention to the project "as soon as my present contract expires at the end of June," and that a redacted consultant "has kindly agreed to act as a consultant to me."

The pilot study used fifty adult male Protestant theological students and ministers, photographed and somatotyped by Sheldon or his assistants. The participants were given the MMPI, the Myers-Briggs and the Rosenzweig picture-frustration test, and only the MMPI scores had entered the statistical analysis.10 A reviewer whose name is redacted, signing as "Ph.D.," called the report "poorly organized," noted "more variables (60 to 70) than subjects," and wrote that "some of the findings are provocative, and more work of this sort should be done."11

An invoice memorandum of July 12, 1961 asks that the check be forwarded by July 24, 1961, and says that additional funds were anticipated for the project.12 A February 1963 accounting for the grant period from September 1, 1961 to August 31, 1962 records $22,000.00 received. Its expenditures include $10,800.00 for the "Salary of Principal Investigator" and total $18,827.50, which leaves a balance of $3,172.50 "to be applied to next year's grant." The accounting closes with the statement that it is a true account "as reported to the Fund." A receipt dated August 16, 1961 acknowledges Treasurer's Check No. 184788, dated August 11, 1961, in the amount of $22,000.00.13

David H. Price tabulated the grants of the Human Ecology Fund for 1960 to 1963. His table lists "Physique and psychological functioning," with Frank Haronian as investigator in psychology, at $39,000. It is the only entry in the table whose title concerns physique.4 The release redacts the investigator's name in every memorandum. The 1961 memorandum fixes the subproject at $22,000, and the accounting records a balance carried to the next year's grant.

The first-page note of the 1964 paper by Sugerman and Haronian reads: "This study was partly supported by a grant to Frank Haronian from the Human Ecology Fund."5

The copy of the subproject file that the CIA sent to the New School on September 7, 1977 carries the school's name reinserted in red on the May 29 memorandum.7 The covering letter, signed by A. R. Cinquegrana of the agency's Office of General Counsel and addressed to John R. Everett, says that "the name of the School has been reinserted wherever it appears in the original documents." The letter states that the names of all other institutions, all individuals and the CIA employees who are not publicly acknowledged remain deleted.14

New Jersey Bureau of Research in Neurology and Psychiatry

The 1964 paper with Sugerman gives Haronian's address as Trenton, New Jersey, and Sugerman's affiliation as the New Jersey Bureau of Research in Neurology and Psychiatry in Princeton.5 The papers of 1965 to 1967 list both men at the Bureau, two of them with a Princeton address.151617

With Sugerman he published the 1964 study in the Journal of Personality, a 1965 comparison of two methods for quantifying physique in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, a 1966 study of field independence in Perceptual and Motor Skills, and a 1967 review of field independence studies in Psychological Reports.5151617 Alone, he published "The ethical relevance of a psychotherapeutic technique" in the Journal of Religion and Health in April 1967.18

Psychosynthesis Research Foundation

Roberto Assagioli wrote that the foundation was created in 1957 with its own seat at Valmy, Greenville, Delaware, and that an international congress was held at Valmy in 1959.19 The London institute's own history states that the foundation was created in New York under the patronage of the Dupont family and names Frank Hilton as its head in New York.20 By 1969 the foundation had an office in New York, with Frank Hilton as director.21 By proclamation of January 24, 1966, Charles L. Terry Jr., Governor of Delaware, declared repealed the charters of corporations that had failed for two years to pay assessed taxes, and the list printed in the Laws of Delaware includes the Psychosynthesis Research Foundation.22 The foundation's notice of December 1, 1967 gives its New York office and, as its registered office and treasurer, an address in Wilmington, Delaware.23

Haronian spoke on "The Denial of the Sublime" at the third meeting of the foundation's 1967/68 series of Psychosynthesis Seminars, held at 7:45 p.m. on December 15, 1967 in the Directors Room of the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York. The notice, signed by Jack Cooper, M.D., describes him as of the Bureau.23 The paper was issued as "The Repression of the Sublime," "Presented at a seminar of the Psychosynthesis Research Foundation, on December 15, 1967."24 Assagioli's 1973 book The Act of Will says that the subject had been "well dealt with by Frank Haronian."25 At the second meeting of the 1968/69 series, on November 15, 1968, Jean Houston spoke on "The relationship between the psychedelic experience and some of the techniques of psychosynthesis." The participants listed include Frank Haronian, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hilton, Jack Cooper and Houston.26 Haronian translated Robert Desoille's The Directed Daydream, issued by the foundation as its Issue No. 18.27

Haronian's "A Psychosynthetic Model of Personality and Its Implications for Psychotherapy" appeared in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology in the fall of 1975, and "Psychosynthesis: A Psychotherapist's Personal Overview" in Pastoral Psychology in Fall 1976. In the second, he wrote that he first became interested in psychosynthesis because he was looking for "a point of view that could bridge psychology and religion," and that he had been surprised by the readiness with which "my clerical colleagues" accepted the Freudian image of human nature. The article's author note gives a Lawrenceville address, states "Dr. Haronian is in private practice," and directs readers to the foundation's New York office.2829

Practice, family and death

Advertisements in the Princeton weekly Town Topics from 1987 to 1991 list Frank Haronian, Ph.D., among the practitioners of psychotherapy and transpersonal counseling at an office in Princeton.30 He was a co-founder and the first clinician of Trinity Counseling Service in Princeton, where he remained active.1

His wife, Ardell Marashian Haronian, died in 1990. He died at his home in Lawrenceville on October 22, 1994, aged 72, survived by two daughters, a brother and four grandchildren. A memorial service was held at Trinity Church in Princeton.1 The New Jersey death indexes list Violet E. Haronian in 1981 and Frank J. Haronian Jr. in 1994.31 Nancy Newton Verrier's book The Primal Wound is dedicated to Frank Haronian (1922-1994).32

Relationships 9

Employed by
  • Somerville School District, from 1950, school psychologist1
  • New Jersey Bureau of Research in Neurology and Psychiatry, 1965–1967, affiliation listed on co-authored papers and on the December 1967 seminar notice, Princeton15
Member of
Took part in
  • Psychosynthesis Research Foundation, 1967–1968, speaker, December 15, 1967 seminar; participant, 1968/69 seminar series23
Founded
  • Trinity Counseling Service, co-founder and first clinician, Princeton1
Spouse of
  • Ardell Marashian Haronian, until 19901
Funded by

Sources

  1. "Frank J. Haronian Jr., 72, a clinical psychologist, died October 22 at his home in Lawrenceville," obituary, Town Topics (Princeton), October 26, 1994. Born in Durham, N.C.; lived in New York City before moving to Lawrenceville in 1958; B.S. City College of New York 1943 (ROTC); Army sergeant in Paris, World War II; master's in education, City College; school psychologist, Somerville School District from 1950; Ph.D. in clinical psychology, New School for Social Research, 1963; private practice in the Lawrenceville and Princeton areas; co-founder and first clinician, Trinity Counseling Service; husband of the late Ardell Marashian Haronian (d. 1990); survivors as stated; memorial service at Trinity Church. https://archive.org/details/towntopicsprince4834unse ↩
  2. The University of North Carolina Record, The Graduate School [1921] (Haronian, Frank J., Constantinople, Turkey, A.B., listed among graduate students for 1920 and 1921), https://archive.org/details/universityofnort185univ ; Catalogue of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [1922-1923] ("Frank John Haronian, M.A., Instructor in French"), https://archive.org/details/catalogueofunive200univ ↩
  3. Obituary of Violet E. Haronian, Armenian Missionary Association of America, 1981 no. 3, p. 15 (born December 23, 1896, Mikhalitch, now Karacabey, Turkey; died May 3, 1981, Ocean Grove, New Jersey; widow of Frank J. Haronian, a former Captain in the U.S. Army; two sons, the subject and a brother; two granddaughters). https://archive.org/details/2016-2_202312 ↩
  4. David H. Price, "Buying a Piece of Anthropology, Part 1: Human Ecology and Unwitting Anthropological Research for the CIA," Anthropology Today 23(3), June 2007, pp. 8-13, Figure 4 ("Known grants funded by the CIA research front known as the Human Ecology Fund, 1960-1963, ranked by grant size," from the Fund's 1961-1963 report): "Physique and psychological functioning," Haronian, Frank, psychology, $39,000. The release of the Subproject 134 file redacts the investigator's name throughout. The 1964 acknowledgment (note 5) records a Human Ecology Fund grant to Haronian for a body-type study. ↩
  5. Sugerman, A. Arthur, and Frank Haronian, "Body type and sophistication of body concept," Journal of Personality 32(3), September 1964, pp. 380-394, first-page note. Affiliation metadata: Haronian, "Trenton, N. J"; Sugerman, New Jersey Bureau of Research in Neurology and Psychiatry, Princeton. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1964.tb01347.x ↩
  6. Central Intelligence Agency, MKULTRA Subproject 134, status page ("Purpose: To do exploratory research upon the relation of component patterns of measurements of physique (body typing) to patterns of personality characteristics (MKULTRA 134)"; "Initiated: July 1961"; contractor line: name redacted, "as a grantee of the" [redacted]; "Cost: $22,000.00"; "Actual work is expected to commence in September 1961"), release DOC_0000017393 (58 pp.); New School Archives copy NS010102_000027 (John R. Everett records, Box 7, Folder 29), PDF p. 10. https://archive.org/details/DOC_0000017393 ; https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/00017393 ; https://digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS010102_000027 ↩
  7. Memorandum for the record, May 29, 1961, MKULTRA Subproject 134, page image 134-12; New School copy NS010102_000027, PDF p. 27; release DOC_0000017393. Paragraph 1 (research studies of "Mr." [redacted]; red insertion "New School for Social Research"), paragraph 2 (indirect assessment, "frankly exploratory in nature"; by-product data for Subproject 77), paragraph 4 ($22,000.00 for one year, Allotment No. 2125-1390-3902), paragraph 5 ("neither cleared nor witting of true Sponsor"). ↩
  8. Memorandum, "Recommendation for Funding," June 9, 1961, stamped 134-11; New School copy NS010102_000027, PDF p. 21; release DOC_0000017393. ↩
  9. Letter of proposal revision, MKULTRA Subproject 134, with budget and schedule; New School copy NS010102_000027, PDF pp. 23-26 (budget, schedule and the "at least 100 subjects" sentence at p. 25; the present-contract and consultant sentences at p. 26); release DOC_0000017393. ↩
  10. Pilot report, Subproject 134, "Fifty adult male Protestant theological students and ministers," all "photographed and somatotyped" by Sheldon or his assistants, New School copy NS010102_000027, PDF p. 37; the three paper-and-pencil tests (MMPI, Myers-Briggs, Rosenzweig Picture Frustration test) are in paragraph 7 of the proposal letter, PDF p. 24; release DOC_0000017393. ↩
  11. "Comments on [redacted] Report," reviewer signed "Ph.D." with the name redacted; release DOC_0000017393; New School copy NS010102_000027, PDF p. 22. ↩
  12. Memorandum "Invoice No. 1," MKULTRA Subproject 134, July 12, 1961, Allotment 2125-1390-3902 (check "by 24 July 1961"; "additional funds will be obligated for this project"); New School copy NS010102_000027, PDF p. 13; release DOC_0000017393. ↩
  13. Accounting, "grant from 9-1-61 to 8-31-62," February 1963 (stamped 134-9), New School copy NS010102_000027, PDF p. 17; Receipt for Treasurer's Check No. 184788, dated August 11, 1961, signed August 16, 1961, PDF p. 18; release DOC_0000017393. ↩
  14. Letter from A. R. Cinquegrana, Office of General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, to John R. Everett, September 7, 1977, enclosing "all available documents which relate to Subprojects 134 and 137 of Project MKULTRA and involve the School"; New School copy NS010102_000027, PDF p. 7; release DOC_0000017393. The letter describes the deletions as covering "all other institutions and organizations, all individuals, and CIA employees" not publicly acknowledged. ↩
  15. Haronian, Frank, and A. Arthur Sugerman, "A comparison of Sheldon's and Parnell's methods for quantifying morphological differences," American Journal of Physical Anthropology 23(2), June 1965, pp. 135-141. Affiliation metadata: New Jersey Bureau of Research in Neurology and Psychiatry, Princeton, New Jersey. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330230213 ↩
  16. Sugerman, A. Arthur, and Frank Haronian, "Field Independence and Resistance to Reversal of Perspective," Perceptual and Motor Skills 22(2), April 1966, pp. 543-546. Affiliation metadata: New Jersey Bureau of Research in Neurology and Psychiatry (no city). https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1966.22.2.543 ↩
  17. Haronian, Frank, and A. Arthur Sugerman, "Fixed and Mobile Field Independence: Review of Studies Relevant to Werner's Dimension," Psychological Reports 21(1), August 1967, pp. 41-57. Affiliation metadata: New Jersey Bureau of Research in Neurology and Psychiatry, Princeton. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1967.21.1.41 ↩
  18. Haronian, Frank, "The ethical relevance of a psychotherapeutic technique," Journal of Religion and Health 6(2), April 1967, pp. 148-154. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01532250 ↩
  19. Roberto Assagioli, "Psicosintesi e parapsicologia," typescript, Archivio Assagioli, Istituto di Psicosintesi, Florence, pp. 1-2 (Italian; translated here): "Nel 1957 ... fu creata la Psychosynthesis Research Foundation con sede propria a Valmy, Greenville, nel Delaware (U.S.A.)"; congress "a Valmy (1959)." https://www.psicosintesi.it/files-scritti/01%20PRESENTAZIONE%20DELLA%20PSICOSINTESI/psicosintesi-e-parapsicologia.pdf ↩
  20. "History of the Institute of Psychosynthesis, London," psychosynthesis.org: the Psychosynthesis Research Foundation "was created in New York under the patronage of the Dupont family," and the writers "talked to Frank Hilton in New York, head of the Psychosynthesis Research Foundation (PRF)." https://www.psychosynthesis.org/blog/history-of-the-institute-of-psychosynthesis-london ↩
  21. Saturday Review, July 12, 1969 (vol. 52, no. 28), directory of organizations: "Psychosynthesis Research Foundation," New York, "Frank Hilton, director." https://archive.org/details/saturday-review_202511 ↩
  22. Laws of Delaware, vol. 55, part 2, chapter 559 (Proclamation of Governor Charles L. Terry Jr., January 24, 1966, under 8 Del. C. sections 511 and 512, on a report by Tax Commissioner E. Hobson Davis), pp. 1694-1714; "Psychosynthesis Research Foundation" is on p. 1708. https://archive.org/details/del-laws ↩
  23. Psychosynthesis Research Foundation, notice of the third meeting of the 1967/68 Psychosynthesis Seminars, December 1, 1967, signed Jack Cooper, M.D. ("Dr. Frank Haronian of the New Jersey Bureau of Research in Neurology and Psychiatry will speak on 'The Denial of the Sublime'"); letterhead gives a New York office and a registered office and treasurer in Wilmington, Del. https://www.psychosynthesisresources.com/NieuweBestanden/13denial_of_sublime.pdf ↩
  24. Frank Haronian, "The Repression of the Sublime," Psychosynthesis Research Foundation, title page. http://synthesiscenter.org/articles/0130.pdf ↩
  25. Roberto Assagioli, The Act of Will (New York: Viking Press, 1973), p. 119 (the index lists Haronian at ix and 120). https://archive.org/details/actofwill00robe ↩
  26. Psychosynthesis Research Foundation, "Psychosynthesis Seminars, 1968/69 Series, Second Meeting: November 15, 1968," cover sheet. https://www.psychosynthesisresources.com/NieuweBestanden/21psychedelics.pdf ↩
  27. Robert Desoille, The Directed Daydream, trans. Frank Haronian, Psychosynthesis Research Foundation Issue No. 18 (New York), cited in Claudio Naranjo, The One Quest (1972). https://archive.org/details/onequest00nara ↩
  28. Haronian, Frank, "Psychosynthesis: A Psychotherapist's Personal Overview," Pastoral Psychology 25(1), Fall 1976, pp. 16-33; author line "Frank Haronian Ph.D."; author note gives a present address in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, states "Dr. Haronian is in private practice," and directs readers to the Psychosynthesis Research Foundation at a New York City address. The reprint text reads: "I first became interested in psychosynthesis because I was looking for a point of view that could bridge psychology and religion" and "I had been surprised by the readiness with which my clerical colleagues accepted the constricted Freudian image of human nature." https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01761144 ; https://www.synthesiscenter.org/articles/0120.pdf ↩
  29. Haronian, Frank, "A Psychosynthetic Model of Personality and Its Implications for Psychotherapy," Journal of Humanistic Psychology 15(4), Fall 1975; cited in the reference list of the 1976 article (note 28). https://doi.org/10.1177/002216787501500404 ↩
  30. Town Topics (Princeton), advertisements of October 21, 1987 ("Psychotherapy and Transpersonal Counseling," Frank Haronian, Ph.D.), and September 5, 1990 ("Transpersonal Counseling Biofeedback Services," Frank Haronian, Ph.D.). https://archive.org/details/towntopicsprince4232unse ; https://archive.org/details/towntopicsprince4526unse ↩
  31. New Jersey Death Index, 1981, surnames E-K (Reclaim The Records scan), entry "HARONIAN,VIOLET.E." https://archive.org/details/NJ_Death_Index_1981_E-K ; New Jersey Death Index, 1994, surnames G-N, entry "HARONIAN JR FRANK J." https://archive.org/details/NJ_Death_Index_1994_G-N ↩
  32. Nancy Newton Verrier, The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child, dedication ("Dedicated to Frank Haronian (1922-1994)"). https://archive.org/details/primalwoundtrans00firm ↩

Connected to by shared pages

2 shared · Personvia John R. Everett
John R. Everett
2 shared · Organizationvia Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology
Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology
2 shared · Organizationvia John R. Everett
New School for Social Research
3 shared · Programvia John R. Everett, Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology
Project MKUltra
1 shared · Person
David Wechsler
2 shared · Placevia John R. Everett
Paris
3 shared · Placevia John R. Everett, Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology
New York City
1 shared · Place
Delaware

Similar entries by subject matter

Concept · not linked
Parapsychology
Person
John R. Everett
Program
Project MKUltra
Organization
Princeton University
Organization
New School for Social Research
Organization · not linked
Harvard University
Person · not linked
J. B. Rhine
Organization · not linked
George Washington University

Named without a link 6

Find a path

Full finder →

Find a chain of links from this entry to another.

FromFrank Haronian

    Local network

    Search or select an entry to see how it connects to Frank Haronian.

    Options

    An interactive diagram of Frank Haronian's connections, drawn on a canvas and explored with a pointer. The same connections are listed as links in the Connected and Mentioned-in sections below.

    Loading connections… Select to explore · Ctrl/⌘-click to add · double-click to open Pinch to zoom · twist to rotate · Fit resets
    How to read the graph
    Colour shows the entry type or cluster
    • People
    • Organizations
    • Programs
    • Events
    • Concepts
    • Places
    Node size

    Larger = more mentions across the vault.

    Connections

    A documented relationship (employed by, member of…). Hover it for dates. Entry pages only.

    A link from one entry to another.

    A name mentioned in an entry without a direct link. Toggle these with “Inferred”.

    Highlights

    Gold rings mark entries mentioned across several clusters.

    Orange rings mark your selection.

    Tags

    PersonPsychologyPsychosynthesisHumanisticPsychologyPhysiqueMKULTRAHumanEcologyFundNewSchoolNewJersey