Richard Dawkins Foundation: Trustees

Richard Dawkins, DPhil – Founder

Richard Dawkins is the former Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, a position he held from 1995-2008. The Wall Street Journal said his “passion is supported by an awe-inspiring literary craftsmanship.” The New York Times Book Review has hailed him as a writer who “understands the issues so clearly that he forces his reader to understand them too.” Among his books are The Ancestor’s Tale, The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, Unweaving the Rainbow, A Devil’s Chaplain and The God Delusion.

J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., MD – Trustee, CFO

J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D. (Andy) is a psychiatrist in private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is also a staff psychiatrist at Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Virginia Student Health Center, staff psychiatrist at University of Virginia’s Institute for Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy, and forensic psychiatrist for Region Ten Community Services. He received his B.A. from Duke University (1970), his M.D. from the University of Virginia (1974) and did his adult psychiatry training at U.Va. (1974-77). His private practice is oriented toward individual psychotherapy, forensic psychiatry, and medication consultation. Before it closed he was the Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction at the University of Virginia which involved interdisciplinary intervention and research in large group ethnic and political conflict. He was part of projects in Estonia, Latvia, the Republic of Georgia, and Kuwait. He has publications on narcissistic personality disorder, PTSD, the psychology of racism, psychobiographical essays on Robert E. Lee and Lee Harvey Oswald, the psychology of suicide terrorism, forensic psychiatry, depression, and the cognitive basis of religious belief. His current research interests are in the area of evolutionary psychology.

Richard Dawkins Foundation: Staff

R. Elisabeth Cornwell, PhD – Executive Director

Robin Elisabeth Cornwell is the Executive Director of the US branch of RDFRS. Prior to becoming the first Executive Director, she worked as a volunteer at RDFRS behind the scenes since its inception. Her contributions include originating and expanding the OUT Campaign, pioneering the concept of ‘vignettes’, including the innovative ‘The Four Horsemen’ discussion, and the filming of lecture events made available on the RDnet website. She has also worked to build up our excellent network of relationships with student secular organizations as well as local and national organizations. Elisabeth was instrumental in devising and organizing the Science Symposium at AAI in Burbank, and has been crucial in orchestrating Richard’s media and events in the US. She gained her business experience while working in marketing and sales in the semiconductor industry in California. In her forties, she decided to pursue her love of science and completed her PhD in psychology at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland. As an evolutionary psychologist, her research has examined the underlying mechanisms of human mate selection, looking at such factors as hormones, pheromones, ageing, asymmetry, and facial features. More recently she has been conducting research at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, exploring the relationship of various psychological traits to religious belief, across the spectrum from strong theism to strong non-theism. Dr Cornwell’s dual experience as a businesswoman and as a scientist means that she brings an unusual combination of strengths to the tasks that face RDFRS in America.

Sean Faircloth, JD - Director of Strategy & Policy

Sean Faircloth served five terms in the Maine Legislature. Faircloth served on the Judiciary and Appropriations Committees. In his last term Faircloth was elected Majority Whip by his colleagues.

An accomplished legislator, Faircloth successfully spearheaded over thirty laws, including the so-called Deadbeat Dad child support law which saved Maine taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and was later incorporated into federal law. Faircloth had numerous legislative successes in children's issues and justice system reform.

In two years as Executive Director of Secular Coalition for America, Faircloth conceived and led the Secular Decade plan, a specific strategic vision for resecularizing American government. Faircloth writes about his ten point vision of a Secular American government in his upcoming book Attack of the Theocrats: How the Religious Right Harms Us All and What to Do About It.

Faircloth earned a reputation for strategic thinking, innovative ideas, and speaking to groups in a way that energized them to support the secular cause.

As Director of Strategy and Policy for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Science and Reason, Faircloth will expand his strategic efforts on behalf of the entire secular movement, speak regarding policy issues, discuss the ideas in his book, and seek innovative ways to improve the secular movement. Faircloth has spoken around the United States about separation of church and state, the Constitution, children's policy, obesity policy, and sex crime law. Faircloth chaired a Commission on sex crime law reform which led to substantive improvement in that area of law. Faircloth chaired an early childhood commission, as well as a Commission regarding the citizen initiative process.

In Maine Faircloth also had the idea for the Maine Discovery Museum and led the four-year project from concept to completion in 2001. Maine Discovery Museum was then the second largest children's museum outside Boston of the twenty-five children’s museums in New England. Faircloth graduated from the University of Notre Dame and has a law degree from University of California Hastings College of the Law. Faircloth served as a state Assistant Attorney General, and as a lobbyist for the state bar association.