About Frits Staal
Johan Frederik "Frits" Staal (3 November 1930 – 19 February 2012) was the department founder and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and South/Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Staal specialized in the study of Vedic ritual and mantras, and the scientific exploration of ritual and mysticism. He was also a scholar of Greek and Indian logic and philosophy and Sanskrit grammar. == Biography == Staal was born in Amsterdam, the son of the architect Jan Frederik Staal. In 1954, Staal earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Amsterdam focused in mathematics, physics, and philosophy. In 1957, he earned his doctorate from the University of Madras focused on Indian philosophy and Sanskrit. After earning his doctorate, he served as a lecturer in Sanskrit at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London from 1958 to 1962. From 1961 to 1962, he searched as an Assistant and Associate Professor of Indian Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. Staal was Professor of General and Comparative Philosophy in Amsterdam from 1962 to 1967. In 1968, he became Professor of Philosophy and South Asian Languages at the University of California, Berkeley, and he retired in 1991.
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