The Department of Psychology at Harvard University holds a unique place in history, not just for its academic contributions, but also for once being the professional home of figures who would significantly shape the 1960s counterculture. Among these was Doctor Timothy Leary, a name synonymous with the era’s exploration of psychedelic drugs and altered states of consciousness.
In 1960, Doctor Timothy Leary, alongside his colleague Richard Alpert, both then promising psychologists at Harvard, embarked on controversial research into psychotropic substances. Their rationale was rooted in the very definition of psychology – the study of the mind and its connection to the brain, body, and environment. They posited that understanding how substances affect cognition, perception, and emotion fell squarely within the domain of psychological inquiry. At the time, the potential risks associated with such research were not as widely recognized as they would later become.
Doctor Timothy Leary earned his Ph.D. in psychology from Berkeley University before joining Harvard as a lecturer in 1959. His early academic work focused on personality dimensions and social interactions, and he also practiced as a psychotherapist. Richard Alpert, with a Ph.D. from Stanford, had arrived at Harvard in 1953, concentrating initially on personality and social psychology research.
Soon after Doctor Timothy Leary’s arrival, he and Alpert initiated the Harvard Psilocybin Project. Psilocybin, a naturally occurring hallucinogen found in certain mushrooms, became the focal point of their research. Their goal was to methodically document its effects on human consciousness by administering it to willing participants and recording their firsthand accounts of the experience. Crucially, in the early 1960s, neither LSD nor psilocybin was legally prohibited in the United States, allowing this research to proceed, at least initially, within the bounds of the law.
However, by 1962, concerns began to mount within Harvard’s faculty and administration regarding the safety protocols of Doctor Timothy Leary and Alpert’s experiments, and the rigor of their methods. Critics pointed to the unorthodox approach, which reportedly included the researchers themselves being under the influence of psilocybin during sessions. The scientific validity of their work was questioned, along with what was perceived as a casual approach to research – characterized by loosely controlled environments and subjective subject selection. The Harvard Crimson student newspaper even published editorials accusing Alpert and Doctor Timothy Leary of not just studying psychotropic drugs, but actively advocating their recreational use.
Doctor Timothy Leary and Alpert maintained that their work served a purely scientific purpose. They agreed to implement safeguards for their subjects, including barring undergraduate participation. Initially, they primarily used graduate students, albeit perhaps not fully informed, as volunteers. Nevertheless, in the spring of 1963, Harvard University terminated Alpert’s employment after he administered psilocybin to an undergraduate student off-campus. Doctor Timothy Leary was also dismissed, effectively bringing the Harvard Psilocybin Project to an abrupt halt.
Their lack of adherence to scientific norms and established research guidelines led to Doctor Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert’s expulsion from academia. Yet, this dismissal marked not an end, but a transformation in their public roles. Both men transitioned into becoming iconic figures of the psychedelic drug movement, the broader counterculture, and the human potential movement. Doctor Timothy Leary became widely known for his famous mantra, “Tune in, Turn On, Drop Out.” Alpert, adopting the name Baba Ram Dass, authored the influential book “Be Here Now,” which became a touchstone of modern spirituality.
Sources
Capshew, J.H. (1999). Psychologists on the March: Science, practice, and professional identity in America, 1929-1969. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Krassner, P., Ed. (2001). Psychedelic Trips for the Mind. New York: Trans-High Corporation.
Leary, T. (1983). Flashbacks: An Autobiography. Los Angeles, CA: J.P. Tarcher, Inc.
Leary, T. & Alpert, R. (1962). Letter to the Editor. The Harvard Crimson, December 13, 1962.
Sigel, E. (1962). Psilocybin expert raps Leary, Alpert on drugs. The Harvard Crimson, December 12, 1962.
