Rhea A. White’s life took an unexpected turn in 1952, when she was involved in a bad car accident. This accident caused her to have a near-death experience, which changed her outlook on life after death. After she recovered from her injuries, she entered into the field of parapsychology, first studying mysticism, religion, psychology, psychiatry, philosophy and literary criticism. Later, she founded the Parapsychology Source Information Center, Parapsychology Abstracts International and Exceptional Human Experiences Network.

In 1990, she realized that traditional science wasn’t going to answer her question as to why she experienced the NDE and what it meant. Rhea began studying the reports of other people who had experienced NDE’s, along with other non-ordinary and anomalous experiences. She classified this study as “Exceptional Human Experiences,” which students of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology rely heavily on to write their dissertations. Rhea’s career spanned nearly 40 years, earning her the respect of colleagues and students alike.

Quoted from Palyne Gaenir:

From her early studies in Jung’s writings to her research work with J.B. Rhine, she was a driven thinker from very young. Editor of professional Ph.D. level journals much of her adult life, and founder of the Exceptional Human Experience Network, an organization dedicated to recognizing and better understanding the things that move us and evolve us, Rhea was one of those people who put out more work for good causes in the world than any one person will ever know about.

Rhea White passed away on February 24 of an undisclosed illness, which she battled for several years.