Flanagan, John Clemans, 1906-1996

American psychologist; colonel, United States Army Air Forces; chief, Psychological Branch, Research Division, Office of the Air Surgeon, 1942-1945.

Biographical/Historical Note

American psychologist; colonel, United States Army Air Forces; chief, Psychological Branch, Research Division, Office of the Air Surgeon, 1942-1945.

John C. Flanagan was born in Armour, South Dakota on January 7, 1906. Flanagan was raised in Seattle, Washington, graduating from the University of Washington in 1929. He received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1934.

Flanagan enjoyed success as head of the research division in the Air Force's Medical Corps., and was recommended to develop and lead a new program of selection and classification identifying qualities of successful pilot trainees. This success led to Flanagan's founding of the American Institutes for Research in 1946.

In 1960 Project Talent was initiated by Flanagan as a survey of over 400,000 high school students across the United States. The survey was intended to measure the aptitudes and abilities of young people by assessing aspects such as cognitive skills, goals, personal experiences and extracurricular interests.

Project Talent was followed by Project PLAN, a curriculum designed to meet individual needs of students.

Flanagan died April 15, 1996 at the age of 90.