Sharon Presley (born 1943) is an American libertarian and individualist anarchist feminist, writer, activist, and retired professor of psychology. She was also co-founder and former co-proprietor of Laissez Faire Books[1], which was once regarded as the largest libertarian bookstore.[2]
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Presley received her B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley and her M.A. in psychology from San Francisco State. Her Ph.D. in social psychology was awarded from City University of New York Graduate Center in 1981.[2] Her mentor, Dr. Stanley Milgram, author of the classic book Obedience to Authority, was the chair for her dissertation, "Attitudes and Moral Judgment of Political Resisters to Authority."[3] In 2009, she retired from teaching at California State University, East Bay in Hayward where she taught the Social, Developmental, Psychology of Women and Critical Thinking. Her research also includes work on women resisters to authority and Mormon feminists. Her current research is on personality variables related to attitudes toward authority.[1]
Presley was one of the co-founders of the first national libertarian organization of the new libertarian movement, the Alliance of Libertarian Activists, in 1966 in Berkeley, California. In 1972, she was the co-founder, with John Muller, of the influential libertarian bookstore Laissez Faire Books.[4] She was one of the founding members of the Association of Libertarian Feminists in 1976 and served as its National Coordinator[2] from 1976 to 1985 and then again from 2004 to the present.[5] In 1992, she founded Resources for Independent Thinking, a non-partisan, non-profit organization promoting educational tools for independent and critical thinking. As of 2009, Presley serves as the organization's Executive Director.[6]