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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE FOR JOHN RAY

My full name is Dr. John Joseph RAY (JR for short). I was born of Australian pioneer stock in 1943 at Innisfail in the State of Queensland in Australia. I was, in other words, born in the Tropics, like my parents and all of my grandparents before me. After an early education at Innisfail State Rural School and Cairns State High School, I taught myself for matriculation. I took my B.A. in Psychology from the University of Queensland in Brisbane. I then moved to Sydney (in New South Wales, Australia) and took my M.A. in psychology from the University of Sydney in 1969 and my Ph.D. in Behavioural Sciences from Macquarie University in 1974.

I first tutored in psychology at Macquarie University and then taught sociology at the University of New South Wales. I taught primarily social psychology and research methods. My major research interests lay in psychological authoritarianism, conservatism, racism and achievement motivation -- resulting in over 250 academic publications all told. My major book was Conservatism as heresy, published in 1974.

At age 39 in 1983 I retired permanently from academic employment and moved back to Brisbane, Queensland, to concentrate on business and personal interests. I have been married four times and have one son born in 1987. My favourite recreation is listening to baroque music -- particularly the the music of J.S. Bach. (Click here to listen to some famous background music from that period). You can find some more extensive autobiographical notes here.

My preferred email address is jonjayray@hotmail.com

To see a photo of me (not advised!) See here or for lots of good photos see here