2018

WAS OUR YEAR


Secular Rescue provided assistance for 53 atheists.

TIES certified teachers in 46 states.

CSICon had a record-breaking 650 attendees.

Message from the President and CEO

Last year was another banner year for the Center for Inquiry. We worked our secular magic in a vast variety of ways: from saving lives of secular activists around the world who are threatened with violence and persecution to taking the nation’s largest drugstore chain, CVS, to court for marketing homeopathic snake oil as if it’s real medicine.

CFI stands up for reason and science in a way no other organization in the country does, because we promote secular and humanist values as well as scientific skepticism and critical thinking.

But you likely already know that if you are reading this report, as it is designed with our supporters in mind. We want you not only to be informed about where your investment is going; we want you to take pride in what we have achieved together.

When I meet people who are not familiar with CFI, they often ask what it is we do. Our name doesn’t give away a lot of clues. So, this is the 20-second elevator pitch I give, “Through education, litigation, and advocacy, the Center for Inquiry promotes the separation of church and state, the rights of the nonreligious here and abroad, and the end to pseudoscience wherever it arises.”

The longer version of what that means is laid out in this report. Here you will find a compendium of the organization’s incredible work. Take a look at this graphic representation of our work and you’ll see just how broad and varied we are.

CFI keeps the history of the freethought movement alive even as we are making history anew with strategic lawsuits and focused advocacy. We operate at the United Nations, on Capitol Hill, in state houses across the country, in the courts, in classrooms, and in the community, representing the interests of people who embrace reason, science, and humanism–the principles of the Enlightenment.

It is no secret that these powerful ideas like no others have advanced humankind by unlocking human potential, promoting goodness, and exposing the true nature of reality. If you are looking for humanity’s true salvation, look no further.

This past year we sought to export those ideas to places where they have yet to penetrate. The Translations Project has taken the influential evolutionary biology and atheism books of Richard Dawkins and translated them into four languages dominant in the Muslim world: Arabic, Urdu, Indonesian, and Farsi. They are available for free download on a special website. It is just one of many such projects aimed at educating people so they can break free of the stultifying effects of dogma and superstition.

But it is you who make all this work possible. Every CFI member, every supporter, every subscriber to one of our flagship magazines, Free Inquiry and Skeptical Inquirer, makes CFI what it is: a powerhouse for reason and science.

We literally could not do it without you. Thank you so very much.

With warm personal regards,

Robyn E. Blumner

CFI Champions the Rights of the Nonreligious Worldwide

CFI saved the lives of threatened nonbelievers abroad and advocated civil equality for atheists and the nonreligious at home.

Secular Rescue: Saving Freedom, Saving Lives

CFI’s Secular Rescue program was a lifeline for 53 of the world’s freethinking writers, activists, and everyday citizens whose lives were directly threatened by violent extremists. In a major profile, The Atlantic characterized Secular Rescue as “the Underground Railroad to save atheists.”

Coordinated by Matthew Cravatta, in 2018 Secular Rescue added to its ranks case manager Melissa Krawczyk and academic liaison Phil Zuckerman, professor of secular studies at Pitzer College.

Translations Project: Knowledge Unleashed

In 2018, CFI began a major initiative to bring books by evolutionary biologist and CFI board member Richard Dawkins targeting readers in Muslim-dominated countries, an audience uniquely hungry for scientific literature.

CFI’s Translations Project is producing professionally translated versions of several of Dawkins’s books, including River out of Eden, The God Delusion, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Magic of Reality, and The Blind Watchmaker, into languages such as Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, and Indonesian. All will be available as free downloads, with the first finished titles launching early in 2019.

On the World Stage at the UN

CFI holds special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. This is the highest status given by the United Nations to non-governmental organizations, and it allows CFI to participate in the UN’s ongoing work.

In 2018, CFI submitted four statements to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and CFI’s president and CEO, Robyn Blumner, gave two in-person oral statements, bringing attention to ongoing persecution and violence against secular activists in Egypt, Mauritania, Bangladesh, and other nations.

Also in 2018

  • CFI called out the cynical marginalization of the nonreligious by the Trump administration and its religious Right allies, such as when the president asserted unanimous religious belief by all Americans in his State of the Union address or when Kellyanne Conway scapegoated atheist comedians for the shooting massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
  • Openly Secular, a campaign of the Center for Inquiry designed to eliminate discrimination and increase acceptance of the nonreligious through public awareness, made available free, valuable resources for closeted nonbelievers and encouraged political activism for Secular Values Voters.

WEB STATS


3,900,000

CFI Websites 2018 Total Pageviews
325,000 Average Monthly Pageviews

2,610,000

RDFRS Website 2018 Total Pageviews
217,500 Average Monthly Pageviews


6,410,000

Total Organization Pageviews in 2018


CFI Challenges the Claims of Pseudoscience and Superstition

CFI took on the purveyors of dangerous fake medicine, anti-vaxxers, witchcraft, and conspiracy theories.

CFI vs. CVS: Fighting the Fraud of Homeopathy

The Center for Inquiry filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against the nation’s largest drug retailer, CVS, over its sale and marketing of useless homeopathic treatments. CFI accused CVS of consumer fraud for allowing fake medicine to share shelf space, physical and virtual, with actual evidence-based medicine, with nothing to help consumers distinguish real medicine from pseudoscience.

CFI also produced a short informational video to explain why homeopathy is a sham and how CVS’s disregard for science endangers consumers.

CFI Kenya’s Unquantifiable Impact

In parts of Africa, belief in witchcraft endangers the lives of children. CFI Kenya has given a new life to children who have been abandoned or threatened by these superstitions through its Humanist Orphans Center and the Ron Lindsay Library (named for CFI’s former president and CEO).

Orphans and children with albinism (whose body parts are sold for their alleged magical properties) get the resources they need to live full and prosperous lives, such as food, shoes, uniforms, educational materials, and of course hope. Simple things such as protecting a threatened little girl with albinism or giving students their first socks and shoes have made an immeasurable difference.

Also in 2018

  • National Geographic Explorer on the National Geographic Channel recruited CFI’s Independent Investigations Group (IIG) to disprove the absurd claims of the flat-earth movement, prominently featuring CFI West and IIG Director Jim Underdown.
  • Dr. Stephen Barrett’s foundational skeptic website Quackwatch, which combats health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct, was welcomed into the CFI family of publications and columns.
  • When Michigan’s State Senate passed legislation granting sweeping new powers to naturopaths, practitioners who rely on pseudoscience and often oppose life-saving vaccinations, CFI rallied our community of policy and health experts to sound the alarm about this legitimization of fake medicine.

SOCIAL MEDIA


15,800

CFI Youtube Subscribers

91,000

CFI & Skeptical Inquirer Twitter Followers

208,000

CFI & Skeptical Inquirer Facebook Likes


300,000

RDFRS Youtube Subscribers

89,500

RDFRS Twitter Followers

1,500,000

RDFRS Facebook Likes


CFI Defends the Wall of Separation between Church and State

Through lobbying, litigation, and education, CFI led the resistance against religious privilege in public policy.

Breaking Down Barriers for Secular Celebrants

Nonbelievers should have the right to a wedding solemnized by an officiant that shares their deeply held values. Seeking to build on milestone legal victories in Indiana and Illinois, CFI launched lawsuits challenging the marriage laws in two states, Michigan and Texas. If successful, officiants such as CFI-trained Secular Celebrants would be legally authorized to solemnize marriages in those states.

The Texas lawsuit garnered in-depth coverage by the Austin-American Statesman and Deseret News, and CFI Michigan Director Jennifer Beahan appeared on NBC affiliate WOOD in its coverage of the Michigan case.

The Twisting of “Religious Liberty”

The religious Right’s relentless campaign to redefine “religious liberty” as an exemption from the law and a license to discriminate has been a primary focus of CFI’s advocacy efforts.

Thanks in no small part to the grassroots support rallied by CFI and its partners, President Trump and his Congressional allies repeatedly failed in their efforts to neutralize the Johnson Amendment, which prevents churches and nonprofit groups from endorsing candidates for political office, keeping right-wing churches from pouring unaccountable dark money into the election system.

CFI also focused intensive lobbying and advocacy efforts on federal agencies such as Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and most notably the Justice Department and its “Religious Liberty Task Force,” all bent on allowing religious people and organizations to freely discriminate against groups such as LGBTQ Americans.

Also in 2018

  • CFI tackled several high-profile court cases in which religion encroached on Americans’ secular rights. Often working in collaboration with allied organizations, CFI produced amicus briefs for courts at all levels on cases covering such issues as the unconstitutional cross monument in Maryland, the debate over humanist military chaplains, atheist invocations in Congress, and the infamous Masterpiece Cakeshop anti-LGBTQ discrimination case.
  • Opposition to the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court was a driving force for CFI’s legal and advocacy efforts in 2018. Renowned freethought advocate and CFI Chair Eddie Tabash led the charge to alert Americans to the existential threat to American secularism and atheists’ rights that Kavanaugh represented, and Free Inquiry magazine published a special feature in which CFI’s leadership team tackled the crisis of Kavanaugh’s nomination from all angles.
  • The religious Right continued to push voucher schemes to divert public education funds to private religious schools, this time taking aim at a program for schools attended by children in military families called Impact Aid. CFI’s Jason Lemieux, a military veteran, wrote a powerful op-ed for the San Antonio Express-News to expose how this plan would gut the education of these special students.
  • CFI provided significant financial support to the One Law for All Campaign. Headed by world renowned human rights defender Maryam Namazie, it seeks to put an end to discriminatory parallel Sharia and religious courts in the UK.

MEASURES OF PROGRESS


53

People assisted by Secular Rescue

175

Secular Rescue Cases


14

Bills lobbied

19

Action Alerts Sent

72

Meetings with Lawmakers and Federal Officials


CFI Advances the Role of Science and Free Inquiry

CFI promoted reason, science, and critical thinking with major events, face-to-face training, and a trove of free resources.

TIES Strengthens Evolution Education

The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) has helped middle school science teachers across the country share the wonders of science with their students and navigate opposition to evolution education.

Thousands of teachers in forty-three states have been given the tools they need to succeed through 122 free, in-person workshops and, new in 2018, 14 online sessions, which have included presentations by experts such as our own Richard Dawkins, Grandmother Fish author Jonathan Tweet, and Kathleen McAuliffe, author of This Is Your Brain on Parasites.

CSICon 2018: The Biggest and Best Ever

A constellation of skeptic stars headlined the biggest and best-attended CSICon ever.

650 members of the reality-based community gathered at the Westgate Resort and Hotel in Las Vegas to see and hear luminaries such as internationally beloved actor and writer Stephen Fry in conversation with Richard Dawkins, psychologist Steven Pinker, “SciBabe” Yvette d’Entremont, everything-ruiner Adam Conover, woo-watcher Kavin Senapathy, Gwyneth Paltrow’s nemeses Dr. Jen Gunter and Timothy Caulfield, and the triumphant return of the amazing James Randi.

You can read about many of the best presentations and even watch many of the presentations on the CFI website.

A Great Anniversary for the Great Agnostic

CFI’s Council for Secular Humanism marked the twenty-fifth year of its Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum with a special Silver Anniversary Celebration headlined by author and scholar Susan Jacoby (Freethinkers, The Age of Unreason), commemorating the legacy of “the Great Agnostic” and his nineteenth century contemporaries in American freethought.

The conference featured lectures from historians, activists, and performers, as well as a motorcoach tour of key sites on the Freethought Trail in west-central New York State.

Also in 2018

  • Few people were as qualified to speak on the proposed dismantling of evolution education in Arizona than TIES director and middle school science teacher Bertha Vazquez. When the state superintendent sought to inject creationism into the state’s science standards at the expense of evolution, Vazquez’s keen insight was highlighted by news outlets such as the Arizona Republic.
  • The Freethought Trail is both a real-life historical experience and a deeply researched website. That website underwent a major redesign in 2018, making it easier and more fun to learn about the great radical reformers of the nineteenth century.
  • With its annual awards, CFI’s Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and Council for Secular Humanism honored the best in skeptic and humanist works.
    • Morris D. Forkosch Award for Best Book of 2017: Kurt Andersen, Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History.
    • Selma V. Forkosch Award for Free Inquiry Best Article for 2017: Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, “Mattering Matters.”
    • Robert P. Balles Annual Prize in Critical Thinking for 2017: Donald R. Prothero and Timothy D. Callahan, UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens.

ENLIGHTENING EVENTS


44

TIES workshops

14

TIES webinars

46

TIES states (all time)


650

CSICon attendees


1,068

Total Events held by CFI Branches


CFI Strengthens the Community of Freethought

CFI tapped into the talents of the secular and skeptic movements like never before.

CFI Online: A Deep Bench of Brilliant New Voices

Harnessing the power of its unmatched braintrust, CFI called upon its dynamic community of scholars, scientists, activists, and artists to create content specially for the CFI and Skeptical Inquirer websites.

In 2018, CFI welcomed a wealth of new columns such as Kavin Senapathy’s “Woo Watch,” Jim Underdown’s “Ask the Atheist,” cartoonist Celestia Ward’s “Peeling Onions,” and comedian Natalia Reagan’s “She Sells Science” joined an existing lineup that includes Joe Nickell’s “Investigative Briefs,” Harriet Hall’s “SkepDoc’s Corner,” and Paul Fidalgo’s irreverent daily news roundup “The Morning Heresy.” CFI’s websites now boast more than thirty regular columns of original and exclusive content.

Foundational Freethought Publications: Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry

Skeptical Inquirer, the magazine for science and reason, continued to build onto its legacy of more than forty years as the flagship journal of the skeptic movement. In 2018, Skeptical Inquirer not only busted myths and shattered illusions, but also deeply explored the scientific and societal factors that contribute to our grandest illusions. Highlights included:

  • An examination of the psychological and cultural underpinnings for religious belief and “the God engine”;
  • A shocking expose on how medical pseudoscience is leading to a “wildlife apocalypse”;
  • How the modern political climate has set the stage for a “war on science”;
  • A critical examination of the myths and misinformation about race; and
  • A backstage look at the filming of Cosmos: Possible Worlds.

26,000

Skeptical Inquirer Circulation

 

Free Inquiry, the journal of secular humanism, thoughtfully engaged with some of the most pressing and controversial issues surrounding religion, politics, philosophy, and the freedom to question. Highlights included:

  • An overview of the myriad failed attempts to validate the power of prayer through science;
  • A celebration of the legacy of Robert Green Ingersoll and radical reformers of the nineteenth century;
  • A debate symposium on the significance of whether a historical Jesus actually existed;
  • A hard look at the problems and pitfalls of patriotism;
  • The harrowing indoctrination into a cult, and the struggle to escape, from those who lived it; and
  • A sobering look at the humanist case for the right to die.

14,000

Free Inquiry Circulation

CFI Branches: Fostering Freethought Communities

CFI’s local branches and campus affiliates were bustling with exciting and enlightening events and activities, from lobbying state representatives to hosting educational lectures and social gatherings, fostering welcoming and engaged communities of freethinkers. 2018 highlights included:

  • CFI West in Los Angeles held the first-ever Secular Day of the Dead, honoring loved ones who have passed and embracing traditions of the local Latinx community.
  • CFI branches in Indiana, Michigan, and Northeast Ohio all held Civics Days, where attendees became educated about policy issues, trained in lobbying, and met with their representatives.
  • Plus, several celebrations for Darwin Day, Carl Sagan Day, the Winter Solstice, plus fascinating lectures and fun family activities

New Members of the CFI Family

CFI in 2018 saw old friends take on new roles and fresh faces bring new energy and expertise to our community.

  • CFI West Director Jim Underdown and Skeptical Inquirer online “Woo Watch” columnist Kavin Senapathy took over hosting duties for CFI’s flagship podcast Point of Inquiry, with new episodes coming in 2019.
  • Mike Powell joined the CFI national staff as Digital Marketing Specialist and took on the role of editor for Point of Inquiry.
  • Professional translator Jana Lenzova came on board to head up the new Translations Project, which will offer several Richard Dawkins books in languages such as Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu.
  • Former outreach staffer Sarah Kaiser returned to take on the roles of Program Director for the Western New York branch and as a national field organizer.
  • The Secular Rescue program now benefits from the skills of Melissa Krawczyk as its new case manager.

Over the summer, CFI’s outreach team was joined by talented interns EJ Sorrell from the University of Texas at Austin and Kayla Bowen from Morehead State University, and former outreach intern London Sneden returned as CFI’s summer legal intern.

Center for Inquiry Board of Directors

David Cowan: Venture capitalist
Richard Dawkins: Evolutionary biologist
Brian Engler: Operations research analyst, nonprofit executive
Kendrick Frazier: Editor, Skeptical Inquirer
Barry Kosmin: Director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
Y. Sherry Sheng: Nonprofit executive, educator
Eddie Tabash (Chair, Board of Directors): Attorney, activist
Andy Thomson (Vice Chair, Board of Directors): Psychiatrist
Leonard Tramiel: Physicist, educator

Where Your Money Goes

When you give to the Center for Inquiry and its programs, you want your donation to be stewarded with care and attention to the mission. That’s why we report our revenue and expense ratios here. In addition, our Form 990 is available on our website.

In 2018, we generated $5,402,763 in revenues. Seventy-six percent came from individual donors, and the balance came from magazine sales, events, and similar earned income. CFI receives no government funding and very limited corporate support.

We are keenly aware of the responsibility we have to our donors when it comes to expenditures. This commitment is reflected in our expense breakdown:


These figures do not include bequests or support for the CFI Development Fund. Please note that these are not final, audited figures. We save costs by having our audit done later in the year. If you would like to see final, audited figures, please contact the Development Department at development@centerforinquiry.org in August.

Fellows and Advisors

  • Rebecca Newberger Goldstein: Philosopher, novelist
  • Susan Jacoby: Journalist
  • Woody Kaplan: Political activist
  • Baris Karadogan: Venture capitalist
  • Norman Lear: Television writer and activist
  • Bill Nye Science communicator
  • Carolyn Porco: Planetary scientist
  • Andrés Roemer: Diplomat
  • Todd Stiefel: Freethought activist
  • Greg Stikeleather: Serial entrepreneur
  • Julia Sweeney: Actor and playwright
  • James E. Alcock* psychologist, York Univ., Toronto
  • Marcia Angell MD, former editor-in-chief, New England Journal of Medicine
  • Kimball Atwood IV MD, physician, author, Newton, MA
  • Banachek professional magician/mentalist magic consultant/producer
  • Stephen Barrett MD, psychiatrist, author, consumer advocate, Pittsboro, NC
  • Robert Bartholomew sociologist and investigative journalist, Botany College in Auckland, New Zealand.
  • Willem Betz MD, professor of medicine, Univ. of Brussels
  • Irving Biederman psychologist, Univ. of Southern CA
  • Sandra Blakeslee science writer; author; New York Times science correspondent
  • Susan Blackmore visiting lecturer, Univ. of the West of England, Bristol
  • Mark Boslough physicist, Sandia National Laboratories (retired), Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Henri Broch physicist, Univ. of Nice, France
  • Jan Harold Brunvand folklorist, professor emeritusof English, Univ. of Utah
  • Mario Bunge philosopher, McGill Univ., Montreal
  • Sean B. Carroll molecular geneticist, vice president for science education, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Madison, WI
  • Thomas R. Casten energy expert; founder and chairman, Recycled Energy Development, Westmont, IL
  • John R. Cole anthropologist, editor, National Center for Science Education
  • K.C. Cole science writer, author, professor, Univ. of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism
  • John Cook author, physicist, Univ. of Queensland, Australia
  • Frederick Crews literary and cultural critic, professor emeritus of English, Univ. of CA, Berkeley
  • Richard Dawkins zoologist, Oxford Univ.
  • Geoffrey Dean technical editor, Perth, Australia
  • Cornelis de Jager professor of astrophysics, Univ. of Utrecht, the Netherlands
  • Daniel C. Dennett Univ. professor and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, director ofCenter for Cognitive Studies at Tufts Univ.
  • Ann Druyan writer and producer; CEO, Cosmos Studios, Ithaca, NY
  • Sanal Edamaruku president, Indian Rationalist Association and Rationalist International
  • Edzard Ernst professor, Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, Exeter, UK
  • Kenneth Feder professor of anthropology,Central Connecticut State Univ.
  • Krista Federspiel medical journalist, author, folklorist
  • Kevin Folta molecular biologist. Professor and chairman of the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida
  • Barbara Forrest professor of philosophy, SE Louisiana Univ.
  • Andrew Fraknoi astronomer, U. of San Francisco
  • Kendrick Frazier* science writer, editor, Skeptical Inquirer
  • Christopher C. French professor, department of psychology, and head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Goldsmiths College, Univ. of London
  • Julia Galef writer, podcaster, public speaker
  • Luigi Garlaschelli chemist, Università di Pavia (Italy), research fellow of CICAP, the Italian skeptics group
  • Maryanne Garry professor, School of Psychology, Victoria Univ. of Wellington, New Zealand
  • Murray Gell-Mann professor of physics, Santa Fe Institute; Nobel laureate
  • Susan Gerbic founder and leader of the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) project
  • Thomas Gilovich psychologist, Cornell Univ.
  • David H. Gorski cancer surgeon and researcher at Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and chief of breast surgery section, Wayne State University School of Medicine
  • Wendy M. Grossman writer; founder and first editor, The Skeptic magazine (UK)
  • Susan Haack Cooper Senior Scholar in Arts and Sciences, professor of philosophy and professor of Law, Univ. of Miami
  • Harriet Hall MD, family physician, investigator, Puyallup, WA
  • David J. Helfand professor of astronomy, Columbia Univ.
  • Terence M. Hines prof. of psychology, Pace Univ., Pleasantville, NY
  • Douglas R. Hofstadter professor of human understanding and cognitive science, Indiana Univ.
  • Gerald Holton Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and professor of history of science, Harvard Univ.
  • Deborah Hyde folklorist, cultural anthropologist, and editor in chief of the UK-based magazine The Skeptic
  • Ray Hyman* psychologist, Univ. of Oregon
  • Stuart D. Jordan NASA astrophysicist emeritus, science advisor to Center for Inquiry Office of Public Policy, Washington, D.C.
  • Barry Karr executive director, Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, Amherst, New York
  • Edwin C. Krupp astronomer, director, Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, CA
  • Lawrence Kusche science writer
  • Stephan Lewandowsky psychologist, researcher, Univ. of Bristol, United Kingdom
  • Scott O. Lilienfeld* psychologist, Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA
  • Lin Zixin former editor, Science and Technology Daily (China)
  • Jere Lipps Museum of Paleontology, Univ. of CA, Berkeley
  • Elizabeth Loftus* professor of psychology, Univ. of CA, Irvine
  • Daniel Loxton writer, artist, editor, Skeptic magazine
  • Michael E. Mann distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and director of the Earth Systems Sciences Center at the Pennsylvania State University
  • David Marks psychologist, City Univ., London
  • Mario Mendez-Acosta journalist and science writer, Mexico City
  • Kenneth R. Miller professor of biology, Brown Univ.
  • David Morrison space scientist, NASA Ames Research Center
  • Richard A. Muller professor of physics, Univ. of CA, Berkeley
  • Joe Nickell senior research fellow, CSI
  • Jan Willem Nienhuys mathematician, Waalre, The Netherlands
  • Lee Nisbet philosopher, Medaille College
  • Steven Novella MD, assistant professor of neurology, Yale Univ. School of Medicine
  • Bill Nye science educator and television host, Nye Labs
  • James E. Oberg science writer
  • Paul Offit doctor, author, researcher, professor, Univ. of Pennsylvania
  • Naomi Oreskes geologist, science historian, professor, Harvard University
  • Loren Pankratz psychologist, Oregon Health Sciences Univ.
  • Robert L. Park professor of physics, Univ. of Maryland
  • Jay M. Pasachoff Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy and director of the Hopkins Observatory, Williams College
  • John Paulos mathematician, Temple Univ.
  • Clifford A. Pickover scientist, author, editor, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
  • Massimo Pigliucci professor of philosophy, City Univ. of New York–Lehman College
  • Steven Pinker cognitive scientist, Harvard Univ.
  • Massimo Polidoro science writer, author, executive director of CICAP, Italy
  • James L Powell geochemist, author, executive director, National Physical Science Consortium
  • Anthony R. Pratkanis professor of psychology, Univ. of California, Santa Cruz
  • Donald R. Prothero paleontologist, geologist, author, National History Museum of Los Angeles County
  • Benjamin Radford investigator; research fellow, Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
  • James “The Amazing” Randi magician, CSICOP founding member; founder, James Randi Educational Foundation
  • Milton Rosenberg psychologist, Univ. of Chicago
  • Amardeo Sarma* chairman, GWUP, Germany
  • Richard Saunders Life Member of Australian Skeptics; educator; investigator; podcaster; Sydney, Australia
  • Joe Schwarcz director, McGill Office for Science and Society
  • Eugenie C. Scott* physical anthropologist, former executive director (retired), National Center for Science Education
  • Seth Shostak senior astronomer, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA
  • Simon Singh science writer; broadcaster; UK
  • Dick Smith film producer, publisher, Terrey Hills, N.S.W., Australia
  • Keith E. Stanovich cognitive psychologist; professor of human development and applied psychology, Univ. of Toronto
  • Karen Stollznow* linguist; skeptical investigator; writer; podcaster
  • Jill Cornell Tarter astronomer, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA
  • Carol Tavris psychologist and author, Los Angeles, CA
  • David E. Thomas* physicist and mathematician, Peralta, NM
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson astrophysicist and director, Hayden Planetarium, New York City
  • Indre Viskontas cognitive neuroscientist, tv and podcast host, and opera singer, San Francisco, CA
  • Marilyn vos Savant Parade magazine contributing editor
  • Stuart Vyse psychologist, professor, author
  • Steven Weinberg professor of physics and astronomy, Univ. of Texas at Austin; Nobel laureate
  • E.O. Wilson Univ. professor emeritus, organismic and evolutionary biology, Harvard Univ.
  • Richard Wiseman psychologist, Univ. of Hertfordshire, England
  • Benjamin Wolozin professor, department of pharmacology, Boston Univ. School of Medicine

* denotes member of CSI Executive Council

  • Gary Bauslaugh
  • Richard E. Berendzen
  • Martin Bridgstock
  • Richard Busch
  • Shawn Carlson
  • Roger Culver
  • Felix Ares de Blas
  • Nahum Duker
  • Taner Edis
  • Barbara Eisenstadt
  • William Evans
  • Bryan Farha
  • John F. Fischer
  • Eileen Gambrill
  • Luis Alfonso Gamez
  • Sylvio Garattini
  • Laurie Godfrey
  • Gerald Goldin
  • Donald Goldsmith
  • Alan Hale
  • Clyde Herreid
  • Gábor Hraskó
  • Michael Hutchinson
  • Philip A. Ianna
  • W. Kelly
  • Richard H. Lange
  • Bernard J. Leikind
  • William M. London
  • Rebecca Long
  • John Mashey
  • Thomas R. McDonough
  • James E. McGaha
  • Joel A. Moskowitz
  • Matthew C. Nisbet
  • Julia Offe
  • John W. Patterson
  • James R. Pomerantz
  • Tim Printy
  • Daisie Radner
  • Robert H. Romer
  • Karl Sabbagh
  • Robert J. Samp
  • Steven D. Schafersman
  • Chris Scott
  • Stuart D. Scott Jr.
  • Erwin M. Segal
  • Carla Selby
  • Steven N. Shore
  • Waclaw Szybalski
  • Sarah G. Thomason
  • Tim Trachet
  • David Willey

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  • Stephen & Julie Maas
  • Bill Maher
  • Maurice Meslans
  • Richard Norton
  • Steven Pinker
  • Stephen Rade
  • Warren Stine

$5,000 - $9,999

  • Ernest Anderson
  • Anonymous
  • Vinod Bhardwaj
  • Robert Field
  • Robert Foley
  • Pamela & Peter Freyd
  • Sylvia Gallagher
  • Richard Hermsen
  • John & Laura Hussey
  • Everett Jones
  • Woody Kaplan
  • Kevin Kelly
  • Larry King
  • Amy King
  • William Mastrocola & Earl Marble
  • John McBride
  • John Mosley
  • Bill Nye
  • Ken Powell
  • Andy Rooke
  • Harold Saferstein
  • James Sanford
  • Thomas Savignano
  • Forrest Shepard
  • Richard Smith
  • Michael Steiner
  • Stiefel Freethought Foundation
  • Greg Stikeleather
  • James Wheeler
  • Bob & Blaikie Worth
  • Karen Zelevinsky

$2,500 - $4,999

  • Brian & Pamela Adams
  • James Alexander
  • Anonymous
  • Robert Balles
  • Robyn Blumner
  • Brian Bolton
  • Bright Funds Foundation
  • James Brokaw
  • Carlton Bronner
  • Brian Engler
  • Austin Eudaly
  • James Ewing
  • Nancy Frakes
  • Jeanne Goldberg
  • Neil Hemphill
  • David Henehan
  • The Kodosky Foundation
  • Manu Kumar
  • Steven Lowe
  • Jean & Aaron Martin Charitable Fund
  • Dennis Monson
  • Wolf Roder
  • Daniel Schultheisz
  • David Terret
  • Douglas Weaver
  • G. Warren Whitaker
  • Harry L. Willett Foundation
  • Reba Boyd Wooden

$1,000 - $2,499

  • Roger Allec
  • Anonymous
  • Peter Armstrong
  • William Atkinson
  • Harry Baker
  • Maria Banta & Alex Vandevelde
  • Mark Barnes
  • Matthew Barron
  • Keith Beckley
  • John Berry
  • Lyle Black
  • Craig Bohren
  • Stewart Bornhoft
  • Brent Bowen
  • Richard Brandshaft
  • Jace Browning
  • Edward Buckner
  • Bruce Burton
  • Thomas Canfield
  • Robert Carl III
  • D. Lamar Cason
  • Frank Cass
  • Gordon Clark
  • Dana Clarke
  • Robert Connor
  • Kimberly Coy
  • Damian Cristodero
  • Kenneth Deaton
  • Monica Donnelly
  • Christopher Donnelly
  • Frank Dowding
  • Arno Driedger
  • Chopper Eckhoff
  • Eugene Edelstein
  • Winfred Emmons
  • James Eyman
  • Wayne Gray
  • Christine Gustavson
  • Gary Haaf
  • Frank Hachman
  • David Hall
  • Glen Harris
  • John Hauber
  • Theodore Hazlett
  • Dale & Ann Heatherington Fund
  • Richard Hempstead
  • Pamela House
  • Jenna Hughes
  • John Hunting
  • Emil Jankulovski
  • Jeff Jones & Scott Trout
  • Cassandra & Richard Junk
  • Tim Kaiser
  • Baris Karadogan
  • Eric Kemmler
  • Stephen Kern
  • Fred Khoroushi
  • Jeff King
  • Douglas Kinney
  • Richard Kinsey
  • James Kirk
  • John Krasney
  • Robert Kresek
  • Ronald Lindsay
  • Mark Lloyd
  • Thomas Lohmeier
  • Jim & Katie Loss
  • Thomas Lutgens
  • Peter Marineau
  • George Martin
  • Herbert Masters
  • Phyllis McBride
  • Michael McCarron
  • Walter McClure
  • Alice Greene McKinney & Kirk McKinney Jr.
  • Andrew Mehler
  • Kevin Miller
  • Andrew Milman
  • Scot Morris
  • David Morrison
  • Leigh Murray
  • John Nedby
  • Paul Newman
  • Sean & Diana O'Brien
  • Andrew & Gloria Olson
  • John Osberg
  • Alan Palmer
  • Ron Parnell
  • Brian Pellerin
  • Henry Pena
  • Joseph Perez
  • Kathryn Petersen
  • Michael Philips
  • Crymes Pittman
  • Fred Pollack
  • Glenn Reynolds
  • Robert Roehm
  • Adam Rose
  • Thomas Scruggs
  • Steven Schmitt
  • Gary Schoenhaar
  • Scholly Memorial Fund
  • Jerald Schwarz
  • Jefferson Seaver
  • Wanda Shirk
  • Bruce Sicklesteel
  • Calvin Siemer
  • Herb Silverman & Sharon Fratepietro
  • Barry Skeist
  • Frederick Smith
  • Robert Stern
  • Larry Stifler
  • Marcia Stutzman
  • Gloria Taylor
  • Grant Taylor
  • John Teti
  • Thomas Theis
  • Theodore A. Tyler
  • Bayard Van Hecke
  • Bruce Van Natta
  • Bill Verdell
  • Ron Vilas
  • Kirk Vistain
  • Walter vom Saal
  • Thomson Von Stein
  • Judy Walker & George Hallenbeck
  • David Weldon
  • Effie Westervelt
  • Thomas Wheeler
  • Wayne Whitmore
  • Sheldon Wilde
  • John Wilson
  • Randal Wilson
  • Larry Wilson
  • Frederik Winsser & Cynthia Lowry
  • Kenneth Wolverton & Waleed Doany
  • Philip Wyatt

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