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 William Roll was born July 3, 1926 in Bremen, Germany, where
his father was American Vice-Consul. His mother was Danish and Roll
attended Holte Gymnasium in Denmark. He enrolled at the University
of California, Berkeley in 1947, and received the BA in 1949,
majoring in philosophy and psychology. After a year of graduate work
in sociology, Roll went to Oxford University, to do research in
parapsychology under Professor H.H. rice until 1957. He received the
M. Litt. degree for a thesis entitled "Theory and Experiment in
Psychical Research," and was president of the Oxford University
Society for Psychical Research. In 1957, Roll joined the staff of
the Parapsychology Laboratory, Duke University, working under Dr.
J.B. Rhine until 1964. During this period he made his first RSPK and
haunt investigations, was appointed project director of the
Psychical Research Foundation (PRF), and elected president of the
Parapsychological Association.
After Rhine's retirement from Duke in 1964, the PRF became a
sponsored program at the Department of Electrical Engineering. In
1986, Roll was appointed Professor of Psychical Research and
Psychology at West Georgia College (now the State University of West
Georgia) with funding from the PRF. In 1989, he received the Ph.D.
from Lund University, Sweden, for a thesis entitled "This World or
That: An Examination of Parapsychological Findings Suggestive of the
Survival of Human Personality After Death." Since 1990, Roll has
been teaching parapsychology at the University as an adjunct
professor.
Roll has written more than 100 scientific papers, several articles
for anthologies, edited 11 volumes of Research in Parapsychology,
and written four books, The Poltergeist (1972), Theory and
Experiment in Psychical Research (1975, his M.Litt. thesis), Psychic
Connections (1995, with Lois Duncan), and Unleashed (2004, with
Valerie Storey). In 1996 he received the Parapsychological
Association's award for a Distinguished Career in Parapsychology. In
2002 he was awarded the Dinsdale Memorial Award by the Society for
Scientific Investigation for his RSPK studies.
Selected Publications
Roll, W. G. (1968). Some physical and psychological aspects of a
series of poltergeist phenomena. Journal of the American Society
for Psychical Research, 62, 263-308.
Roll, W.G. (1969). The Newark disturbances. Journal of the
American Society for Psychical Research, 63, 123-174.
Roll, W.G. (1970). Poltergeist phenomena and interpersonal
relations. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research,
64, 66-99.
Roll, W.G. (2003). Poltergeists, electromagnetism and consciousness.
Journal of Scientific Exploration, 17, 75-86.
Roll, W.G. (2004). The Poltergeist. New York: Paraview
(reprint of 1979 edition).
Roll, W.G. (1993). The question of RSPK vs. fraud in the case of
Tina Resch. Proceedings of Presented Papers: The Parapsychological
Association 36th Annual Convention, 456-482.
Roll, W.G. (2000). Poltergeist and space-time: A contemplation on
Hans Bender's Ideas
About RSPK. The Parapsychological Association, 43rd Annual
Convention, Proceedings of Presented Papers, August 17-20, 316-332.
Roll, W.G., Burdick, D., & Joines, W.T. (1973). Radial and
tangential forces in the Miami poltergeist. Journal of the
American Society for Psychical Research, 67, 267-281.
Roll, W.G., Burdick, D., & Joines, W.T. (1974). The rotating beam
theory and the Olive Hill poltergeist. In W.G. Roll, RL. Morris & J.
Morris (Eds.), Research in Parapsychology, 1973, (pp. 64-67).
Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow.
Roll, W.G., & Gearhart, L. (1974). Geomagnetic perturbations and
RSPK. In W.G. Roll, RL. Morris & J. Morris (Eds.), Research in
Parapsychology, 1973, (pp. 44-46). Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow.
Roll, W.G., Maher, M., & Brown, B. (1992). An investigation of
reported haunting occurrences in a Japanese restaurant in Georgia.
The Parapsychological Association 35th Annual Convention,
Proceedings of Presented Papers, August 9-13, 151-168.
Roll, W.G., Moody, R, & Radin, D. (1996). Reports of hauntings at
Dragsholm Castle, Denmark, and Engso Castle, Sweden. The
Parapsychological Association, 39th Annual Convention, Proceedings
of Presented Papers, August 17-19, 253-270.
Roll, W.G. & Nichols, A. (1999). A haunting at an Army post. The
Parapsychological Association 42nd Annual Convention, Proceedings of
Presented Papers, August 4-8, 253-270.
Roll, W.G. & Nichols, A. (2000). Psychological and electromagnetic
aspects of haunts. The Parapsychological Association 43rd Annual
Convention, Proceedings of Presented Papers, August 17-20, 364-378.
Roll, W.G. & Persinger, M.A. (1998). Poltergeist and nonlocality:
Energetic aspects of RSPK. Proceedings of Presented Papers: The
Parapsychological Association 41st Annual Convention, August 6-9,
1998, 184-198.
Roll, W.G., & Pratt, J.G. (1971). The Miami disturbances. Journal
of the American Society for Psychical Research, 65, 409-454.
Roll, W.G., Sheehan, L.C., Persinger, M.A., & Glass, A.Y. (1996).
The haunting of White Ranch. The Parapsychological Association
Annual Convention, Proceedings of Presented Papers, August, 17-20,
279-294.
Roll, W.G., & Stump, J. (1969). The Olive Hill poltergeist.
Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association 6, 57-58.
Stewart, J.L., Roll, W.G., & Baumann, S. (1987). Hypnotic suggestion
and RSPK. In D.H. Weiner & RD. Nelson (Eds.), Research in
Parapsychology, 1986, (pp. 30-35). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow.
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