Callum Cooper: recipient of the 2013 Alex Tanous Foundation research award

Callum Cooper, researcher, PhD candidate, writer, lecturer… sound a little familiar? At the Alex Tanous Foundation, Cal sounded very familiar and from the first encounter reminded us of the energy of Dr. Tanous.

We first met Cal back in 2011 when he applied for the Alex Tanous Scholarship Award at which time he was studying many of the fields that Dr. Tanous had studied.  He was working on a book:  Telephone Calls From The Dead, which was published shortly after his first award. He has since studied the life of Dr. Tanous, lectured on his work, and traveled to Egypt and re-traced Alex’s 1980s trip there.

Cal has studied at the University of Northampton, Sheffield Hallam University, and the University of Northampton. He’s been given the Alex Tanous Foundation Award as well as the Parapsychology Foundation Award, and has written many selected papers on psychology and parapsychology.

With this year’s grant award from The Alex Tanous Foundation, Cal has a new project in the works: a republishing of Conversations With Ghosts by Alex Tanous with Callum Cooper.

Cal wrote to the Foundation:

“I have read in great detail the OBE research between Dr Tanous and Dr Osis, but hearing the ‘ghost hunting’ side of things was very refreshing given my own background in the investigation of purportedly haunted locations.  My offer to the committee, and request (should it be granted in anyway), is to get this manuscript finally published, and a further book publication by Dr Tanous, as I would be greatly interested in completing the manuscript of Conversations with Ghosts.”

He also plans to continue compiling research and literature on Dr. Alex Tanous, particularly Tanous’s little-known research areas.

Alex Tanous Scholarship Award: How it Helped My Research

By: Callum Cooper

When I was first informed that I had been accepted as the recipient of the Alex Tanous Scholarship Award, I was delighted. In fact, words can’t describe how good it can feel to have your work recognised by means of an award, in a field of research such as parapsychology, which receives very little financial backing as a science. As a result of this, often, those involved in the field will self-fund their efforts where possible and be highly passionate about their studies and research, sometimes I feel this is the only thing which keeps most, if not all parapsychologists involved.

My first Alex Tanous Scholarship Award was presented to me during the end of my post-graduate research, while I was a Masters student. At that time I had also been studying anomalous telephone call experiences, which involved collecting and investigating such accounts. I began investigating such accounts in 2009, and subsequently published a few papers on the topic. The award money allowed me to purchase books and other texts that I would not normally be able to afford. Just after I received the Tanous Scholarship Award, I decided to compile all of my work into a new book entitled Telephone Calls from the Dead (Tricorn Books, 2012), which I hope will be accepted as a useful revised edition of the original book: Phone Calls from the Dead (by D. Scott Rogo and Raymond Bayless, 1979).

Read Callum’s full reflections on being awarded the Alex Tanous Scholarship Award.

Grants

In 1996, The Alex Tanous Foundation awarded a $50,000 grant to two researchers, Dr. Fred Frohock and Polly Bennell, for the purpose of collecting and preserving information about the life of Dr. Tanous.

The outcome of this project, which continued during 1996 and 1997, includes extensive data on the life and work of Dr. Tanous in the form of audio/video taped interviews (approximately 70 hours), written reports, photos, surveys, and other memorabilia. The overall goal of this research was to prevent information loss through the collection of materials and information about Dr. Tanous and to provide access to the materials and information to those who may be researching the field. The interviews, combined with the additional materials collected, provide a wealth of information about Alex and also indicate areas where further inquiry may be helpful.

The material collected by these researchers will not only help those who want to go further in the study of the unusual and interesting Dr. Tanous but also contribute to a more complete record of his life.

Archives including the final report prepared By Dr. Frohock and Ms. Bennell as well as the audio-video taped interviews are amongst the Archive Preservation Project and will be made available to the public.

For further information relative to this research project, contact:
Alice Kelley, Research Assistant
Alex Tanous Foundation for Scientific Research
P.O. Box 3818
Portland, Maine 04104-3818
(207)-773-8328 or e-mail

Gifts

Periodically, the Alex Tanous Foundaiton for Scientific Research donates to organizations involved in areas of research of interest to the Foundation.

In June of 2002, the Alex Tanous Foundation for Scientific Research announced a donation to the Rhine Research Center. The Alex Tanous Research Library, located in the Rhine Center’s new facility, is a visible accomplishment dedicated to fulfilling Alex’s dreams and furthering the mission of the Alex Tanous Foundation for Scientific Research. Once the Archive Preservation Project is complete, this library will house a copy of the Alex Tanous Archives.

The grand opening of the Rhine Research Center’s beautiful new building housing the Alex Tanous Research Library took place the weekend of June 7-9, 2002. The following is an excerpt from the speech given by Susan Tanous, niece of Alexander Tanous at the Opening Ceremony:

The Rhine Research Center bases its existence on that which Dr. Alex Tanous believed with all his conviction and practiced with all his being—that the paranormal exists and will continue to find its way into the fabric of our lives bringing with it contributions to society that will lend a hand by way of healing, remote viewing, telepathy, and creativity throughout all sectors including education, medicine, and law enforcement…In the bringing together of the legacies of two very special men, my uncle Dr. Alex Tanous and Sally’s father, Dr. J.B. Rhine, I feel sure they would be proud to see the culmination of their lifetime of work located where the world can appreciate it more, ensuring that further serious research continues.

The Alex Tanous Foundation is proud of its collaboration with the Rhine Research Center on this project and looks forward to further supporting psi research and other educations programs conducted by the Rhine Center as well as other Para psychological Organizations. For more information on the Rhine Research Center (Durham, NC) please visit their Web Site at www.rhine.org. And for a complete list of other organizations please visit our partner resources.

In 2000, the Alex Tanous Foundation for Scientific Research celebrated its 10th anniversary by donating $10,000 to the Maine Cancer Research and Education Foundation in support of its Familial Predisposition Project and its Discovery Weekend, a unique retreat for cancer patients. The Maine Cancer Research and Education Foundation was established in 1976 to fund laboratory and clinical cancer research in Maine, to present education to health care providers and to provide for patients emotional and spiritual needs through Discovery Weekend. Dr. Tanous was particularly interested in the various aspects of healing.

For further information please contact:
Susan Rowan
Maine Cancer Research & Education Foundation
P.O. Box 553
Portland, Maine 04112-0553
(207) 773-2533 or e-mail at mcref@javanet.com