David Orme-Johnson
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David W. Orme-Johnson (born January 17, 1941) is a former professor of
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...
at
Maharishi University of Management Maharishi International University (MIU), formerly Maharishi University of Management, is a private university in Fairfield, Iowa. It was founded in 1973 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and features a "consciousness-based education" system that includes ...
in
Fairfield, Iowa Fairfield is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, Iowa. It has a population of 9,416 people, according to the 2020 census. The median family income is $46,138, with 10% of families below the poverty line. The city is typical ...
. He is the author of over 100 papers investigating the effects of the
Transcendental Meditation technique The Transcendental Meditation technique (abbreviated as TM) is the technique associated with the practice of Transcendental Meditation developed by the Indian spiritual figure Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The practice involves the use of a private m ...
.


Early life and education

David Orme-Johnson was born in
El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
. He received a B.A. from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in Psychology in 1963, and a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology (with a second speciality in Quantitative Methods) in 1969 from the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
.


Professional career

From 1969 to 1971, Orme-Johnson served as a lecturer at the
University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...
(UTEP). While at UTEP, he conducted the first research on the effects of Transcendental Meditation (TM) on autonomic stability and autonomic recovery from stressors. The paper, published in ''Psychosomatic Medicine'', the journal of the American Psychosomatic Society, reported fewer spontaneous galvanic skin responses (GSR) in meditators, and more rapid habituation of the GSR to loud tones. Orme-Johnson was director of research and evaluation for the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
drug rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general intent i ...
program at
Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, Ft. Bliss h ...
from 1971 to 1972.Self Published Bio Data
/ref> In 1973, Orme-Johnson joined Maharishi International University (MIU), formerly Maharishi University of Management (MUM), in Fairfield, Iowa. Orme-Johnson served as the Chairman of the Psychology Department and Dean of Research until 1996. As Chairman of the Psychology Department, he “led the MIU Psychology Department in the theoretical development of Maharishi Vedic Psychology”. In addition, he was director of the university’s psychology doctoral program and co-director of its
neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...
doctoral program, as well as director of it’s Institute for World Peace. He also served as director of research at the Institute of Science, Technology, and Public Policy. According to Orme-Johnson, he was Vice Chancellor of
Maharishi European Research University Transcendental Meditation in education (also known as Consciousness-Based Education) is the application of the Transcendental Meditation technique in an educational setting or institution. These educational programs and institutions have been found ...
,
Seelisberg Seelisberg is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. History The Rütli meadow, according to legend the site of the original oath foundational to the Old Swiss Confederacy, is situated in the territory of the municipality. The Seel ...
, Switzerland, from 1975 to 1977 and Acting President of Maharishi University of Management from 1976 to 1977. In 1982, Orme-Johnson was the co-presenter for a report on Transcendental Meditation research given at Congressional hearings by the Subcommittees on International Security and Scientific Affairs to establish an Academy of Peace. Orme-Johnson gave a four-point proposal dedicated to peace in the US and around the world. Orme-Johnson's paper, "International peace project in the Middle East," was published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution in 1988 and again in 1990 in the ''Scientific Research on Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers''. The second published version included an Appendix A which contained the data used for the study. The paper was criticized in 1997 by
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
professors Evan Fales and Barry Markovsky, who took issue with the
Maharishi Effect Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...
theory and with Orme-Johnson's interpretation of evidence. They complained that Orme-Johnson refused to share his raw data and concluded that the probability of the Maharishi Effect theory was "very close to zero". Orme-Johnson defended his work in a 2009 paper. After reviewing their critique, he wrote that it was "not supported by either the empirical data nor by a logical analysis of the theory". He also noted that published plots of the raw data were given to Fales and Markovsky and that a simple visual inspection of these plots would have shown that their alternate hypotheses could not explain the study's results. The raw data is available on his website. He participated in a delegation of teachers from Maharishi International University who traveled to the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
to provide instruction in Transcendental Meditation in 1990. The trip, initially scheduled to last ten days, was extended to six months and resulted in the training of 35,000 people in Transcendental Meditation. In 1990, he proposed that the U.S. Defense Department budget $90 million to hire 7,000 to 10,000 full-time meditators to improve society. In 1991, he advocated a plan for prisons to hire TM trainers, at a cost of $1,500 per inmate, to reduce recidivism and illness among prisoners. In response to an article in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' that estimated it would cost $1 billion to teach TM to all inmates in the U.S., Orme-Johnson wrote that doing so would result in a net savings of $6.2 billion annually. In 1993, Orme-Johnson proposed that the city of
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
, spend $23 million for 600 meditators to end crime in the city. In 1995, the
National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
(NIH) nominated Orme-Johnson to be an expert presenter on the effects of meditation as a relaxation technique on chronic pain and insomnia at the NIH technology assessment conference held in Bethesda, Maryland. The conclusions of the conference were reported in the ''Journal of the American Medical Association''. According to Orme-Johnson's website: from 1999 to 2000, Orme-Johnson was a member of the Advisory Board at the Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention and, from 2000 to 2002, was a Consultant for the Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention according to his website. From 2002 to 2004, he served as Adjunct Professor at Maharishi College of Vedic Medicine located at Maharishi University of Management. In 2006, Orme-Johnson was the principal investigator for an NIH grant sponsored collaboration between Maharishi University of Management and the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
at Irvine to conduct the first neuroimaging study on the effects of meditation on pain. In 2008, the NIH National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and al ...
sponsored Orme-Johnson to present research on the Transcendental Meditation program and health at their workshop on "Meditation for Health Purposes", held in Bethesda, Maryland.


Artist

Orme-Johnson is also a sculptor and painter. He studied visual arts at Columbia College from 1959 to 1963 in drawing, painting, sculpture and history of the movies, and at the University of Maryland from 1963 to 1968 in print making, glass blowing, sculpting and painting. He also studied painting through the
Corcoran Gallery The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Desi ...
in Washington, D.C. in 1967. Self Published Bio Data
/ref> Orme-Johnson's work has been exhibited in group shows at Columbia University, and has been shown in Fairfield, Iowa and El Paso, Texas.


Personal life

After retiring from the Maharishi University of Management, Orme-Johnson moved to Florida where he worked as a research consultant and a TM teacher. In 1996, he qualified as a
write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
in the election for Florida House District 7. His wife, Rhoda Orme-Johnson, also a teacher of
Transcendental Meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes ...
, was a Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Literature and Languages at Maharishi International University from 1973 to 1996, and the Administrative Dean of
Maharishi European Research University Transcendental Meditation in education (also known as Consciousness-Based Education) is the application of the Transcendental Meditation technique in an educational setting or institution. These educational programs and institutions have been found ...
, in Seelisberg, Switzerland from 1975 to 1976. She is also a
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
,
real estate agent A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...
, and the author of two books, ''Inside Maharishi’s Ashram: A Personal Story,'' and ''The Flow of Consciousness: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on Literature and Language, 1971 to 1976.'' Orme-Johnson’s brother, William, was a professor of chemistry at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
and an expert on inorganic chemistry.


Selected papers

The most frequently cited papers in which DW Orme-Johnson was the lead author include: * * *Orme-Johnson D. W. (1987) Medical care utilization and the Transcendental Meditation program. Psychosomatic Medicine 1987 49(1):493-507 * * *Orme-Johnson D. W. (1994) Transcendental Meditation as an epidemiological approach to drug and alcohol abuse: theory, research, and financial impact evaluation.
Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly The ''Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed medical journal published by Taylor & Francis. The editor-in-chief is Thomas F. McGovern (Texas Tech University). The journal was first published in 1984 by Haworth Press. It cove ...
1994 11(1/2):119-168 * * *Orme-Johnson, D. W. (2002) "Quantifying the field effects of consciousness: From increased EEG coherence to reduced international terrorism" ''Proceedings: Bridging Worlds and Filling Gaps in the Science of Healing''. Corona del Mar, CA: Samueli Institute for Informational Biology, 2002:326-346. (R.A. Chez, editor) *Orme-Johnson DW, Dillbeck MC, Alexander CN. (2003) Preventing terrorism and international conflict: effects of large assemblies of participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 2003 36(1-4):283-302 *Orme-Johnson D. W. (2003) Preventing crime though the Maharishi Effect. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 2003 36(1-4):257-281 *Orme-Johnson D. W, Schneider RH, Son YD, Nidich S, Cho Z-H. (2006) Neuroimaging of meditation's effect on brain reactivity to pain. NeuroReport 2006 17(12):1359-1363


Books

*Orme-Johnson, David W., and John T. Farrow, eds. ''Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program: Collected Papers''. 2nd ed. Weggis, Switzerland: Maharishi European Research University Press, 1977–90. (). *Schmidt-Wilk, J., Orme-Johnson, D. W., Alexander, V., & Schneider, R. (Eds.), (2005). ''Maharishi's Vedic psychology and its applications: Honoring the lifework of Charles N. Alexander, Ph.D. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality'', 620 pages. *Alexander, C. N., Walton, K. G., Orme-Johnson, D. W., Goodman, R. S., & Pallone, N. J. (Eds.). (2003). ''Transcendental Meditation in Criminal Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention''. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 383 pages. *Wallace, R. K. Orme-Johnson, D. W. & Dillbeck, M. C. (Eds.) (1990). ''Scientific research on Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program: Collected papers: Vol. 5''. Fairfield, IA, MUM Press, 837 pages.


References


External links


Truth About TM
David Orme-Johnson's Professional Website

David Orme-Johnson's Artist Bio {{DEFAULTSORT:Orme-Johnson, David 1941 births Living people People from El Paso, Texas American psychologists Transcendental Meditation researchers University of Maryland, College Park alumni Columbia University alumni University of Texas at El Paso faculty