Dr. Ian Whishaw - Academics

Newly armed with his English degree, Ian visited the dean (of French studies) at the University of Calgary, who asked if Ian would be going to graduate school, to which Ian replied "What's that?" Once he knew what graduate school was, he decided he would like it, but not in English studies. So, after the flip of a coin, Ian signed up for graduate studies in psychology. Psychology at the University of Calgary, always looking for students, accepted Ian on the spot without asking about his marks or his major.

His Master's thesis, under Dr. Ron Cooper, focused on the effect of strychnine (a pesticide) on learning. "My MSc thesis was 25 pages doubled spaced, including figures. My thesis prompted the School of Graduate studies to express their concerns about thesis length to the Psychology Department.