John J. Furedy (June 30, 1940 – August 23, 2016) was a Hungarian-born Australian and Canadian psychophysiologist and distinguished research professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, noted for his extensive empirical research into the unreliability of the polygraph test in lie detection[1] and similar problems associated with biofeedback, as well as addressing contemporary issues concerning academic freedom.
[3] Having emigrated with his parents from a totalitarian society, and influenced by the intellectual zeitgeist at the University of Sydney in the late 1950s and the promotion of free speech by the then Challis Professor of Philosophy John Anderson (philosopher), Furedy, who regarded himself as an Andersonian realist, also cherished and was keen to articulate the principle of academic freedom.
[2] Funded repeatedly by the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Furedy ran a state-of-the-art psychophysiology laboratory, advising and collaborating with undergraduates, graduates and post-doctoral students until 1995.
According to the National Post, "Colleagues and students found him an incisive and critical thinker, determined and principled, able to disagree with opinions without personal animosity, having a sharp wit and a generous spirit".
Highly published in the experimental psychology peer-reviewed literature, he not only wrote conceptual pieces, but, also undertook empirical research into how universities balance the conflicting demands of "merit" and "equity" (or affirmative action") in their hiring policies, as reflected in the phraseology of their tenure-stream advertisements, including cultural aspects.
[1][11] Furedy concurred with other eminent psychophysiologists that polygraph "testing" (despite being shamelessly and irresponsibly promoted in the mass media) has no actual scientific basis, being almost entirely dependent on an individual's ignorance and propensity to experience fear.