Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Stanislav Grof is best known for his work in the field of consciousness studies. He was trained as a Freudian Psychoanalyst at Charles University (M.D.) and the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (Ph.D.). He explored the clinical and therapeutic uses of LSD at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague until the mid-1960s, then at Johns Hopkins University as a research scientist and professor of psychiatry 1967-1973 and as Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (1969-1973) where he worked with Walter Pahnke and Bill Richards, among others. During the 1960s, he worked closely with LSD and conducted more than 4,000 sessions of psychedelic therapy.

In 1973 Grof was invited to Esalen Institute where he lived as Scholar-in-Residence until 1987, writing, lecturing, and developing--with his wife Christina--Holotropic Breathwork. He also served on the Board of Trustees of Esalen. He was the founding president of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), which has organized major conferences worldwide. Grof is a prolific author, having written numerous books about LSD's use in psychotherapy, altered states of consciousness, and other methods of conducting deep psycho-spiritual work. Throughout his life, Grof has and a strong interest in the visual arts, and he created numerous drawings and paintings during his years of experience with non-ordinary states of consciousness.

In July of 2009, Grof donated a collection of writings and documents related to his research interests (circa 1955-2008) to Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, West Lafayette, Indiana. The hope is that this will be just the first of many collections related to psychedelics and the study of altered states of consciousness that find a permanent home at Purdue.

Stan's wife Christina Grof died on June 14, 2014.