Sidney J. Parnes (January 5, 1922 – August 19, 2013) was an American academic who was professor at
Buffalo State College
The State University of New York College at Buffalo (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State College, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college in Buffalo, New York. It is part of the State University of New ...
(located in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
) and the co-founder of the International Center for Studies in Creativity. The center is housed within Buffalo State College, one of the few places in the world that offers a Masters of Science degree in
creativity
Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed Literature ...
. The department also now offers a distance learning version of the degree to students around the world as well as an undergraduate minor in creative studies.
Parnes was a lifetime trustee of the
Creative Education Foundation (CEF). He joined the CEF in 1955 to help develop a comprehensive educational program for the
Creative Problem Solving Institute, which is the world's longest-running international creativity conference. In 1966, CEF's founder,
Alex Osborn died, leaving Parnes to head the foundation.
Parnes and
Alex Osborn developed the
Creative Problem Solving Process (CPS), a structured method for generating solutions to problems. This method is taught annually at the International Center for Studies in Creativity, the Creative Problem Solving Institute
and the
CREA Conference in Europe.
Selected works
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parnes, Sid
Creativity researchers
Popular psychology
20th-century American psychologists
1922 births
2013 deaths
Buffalo State College faculty