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Who We Are

Custodians of The Urantia Book since 1950

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A Short History of Urantia Foundation

Urantia Foundation was incorporated under the laws of Illinois on January 11, 1950, for the purpose of publishing and preserving inviolate the text of The Urantia Book. Metal printer plates bearing the complete text of The Urantia Book just as it had been received were bequeathed to Urantia Foundation upon its incorporation. A Board of Trustees was selected to direct the organization, and they set about securing the funds for printing an initial 10,000 copies of The Urantia Book using these printer plates.

For some years preceding the metal plates, The Urantia Book had consisted of typewritten manuscripts stored in a fireproof vault. These typewritten manuscripts had been carefully transcribed from handwritten manuscripts. Further details concerning how the manuscript came to be are limited. Beyond certain direct references in The Urantia Book itself to the process of bringing the book into existence, our unseen friends wished to prevent the appearance of a “Urantia Apocrypha,” and they were determined that future generations possess the book free from human connections. Remember: an excellent symphony or work of art can be appreciated without knowing the author or fully understanding the details of its composition.

The first printing of The Urantia Book became available on October 12, 1955, and Urantia Foundation began its distribution in earnest. Also in 1955, a group who admired the teachings of The Urantia Book and who were interested in proclaiming them formed the Urantia Brotherhood, a voluntary and fraternal organization. Since 1955, fraternal organizations associated with The Urantia Book have grown and evolved, both in the United States and worldwide.

Today, Urantia Foundation continues as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization with the mission to seed The Urantia Book and its teachings globally. The original metal printer plates have been superseded by modern technology, but Urantia Foundation continues to ensure that the text remains inviolate. We have overseen the publication of more than 25 high-quality translations of The Urantia Book, and we offer study materials and educational opportunities like our tuition-free, online Urantia Book International School.

A more complete early history through 1960 is available. The above writing was adapted from this more extensive history.
Our Team
Mo Siegel
Mo Siegel
President

Mo began reading The Urantia Book in 1969 after spending two years living and attending school at a Catholic monastery. He has hosted a Urantia Book study group since 1972. During the past forty-five years, Mo has served on the boards of three organizations solely dedicated to The Urantia Book. Mo is a father of five and grandfather of seven and lives with his wife, Jennifer, in Boulder, Colorado, United States. During the last thirty years, Mo has served on the board of directors of twenty-three for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. He has spent most of his life in the food industry. He has been a trustee since 1998.

Marilynn Kulieke
Marilynn Kulieke
Vice President

Marilynn was introduced to The Urantia Book in 1972 by her late husband, David Kulieke, whose parents and an uncle and aunt were long-time readers. Since that time, Marilynn and David have hosted hundreds of study groups in their home. After joining the First Society for Readers of The Urantia Book in 1974, Marilynn became an active supporter of the dissemination of the book and its teachings. She lives in Lincolnshire, Illinois, United States. Professionally, she holds a doctorate in educational research psychology, and she works for GAINS Education Group, which offers survey, research, and evaluation services to schools and school districts. In 2007 she joined the board as an associate trustee and became a trustee in 2008.

Georges Michelson-Dupont
Georges Michelson-Dupont
International Vice President

Georges’s father introduced him to The Urantia Book in the early 1960s. Georges was a member of the team that spent fifteen years revising and correcting the French translation. He also oversaw distributing the French translation of The Urantia Book in French-speaking countries for many years. He created the first electronic search engine for The Urantia Book, and he formatted small vinyl versions of the book in several languages. In 1999, he co-founded the first online school dedicated to the in-depth study of The Urantia Book, now named the Urantia Book International School (UBIS). He lives in Recloses, France, with his wife of 51 years, Marlene. They have two grown daughters and one granddaughter. By profession, Georges was an electro-metallurgist engineer. They have been retired since 2010. Georges became a trustee in 1995.

Judy Van Cleave
Judy Van Cleave
Secretary

Judy has been a student of The Urantia Book since 1973, when her sister introduced her to the book. She has attended and hosted study groups, is a charter member of Idaho Urantia Association, and has served on the boards of Urantia Association of the United States and Urantia Association International. She lives in Boise, Idaho, United States, where she and her family work in the heating and air conditioning business that they founded in 1976. While raising her family, Judy served as a volunteer and board member in various local organizations associated with her daughter and son’s activities. Today she especially enjoys time spent with her grandchildren. Judy served as an associate trustee in 2007 and was elected a trustee in 2008.

Gard Jameson
Gard Jameson
Treasurer

Gard bought a copy of The Urantia Book in 1972 while studying comparative religion at Stanford University. “Reading The Urantia Book for the first time was the beginning of a pilgrimage of discovery,” says Gard, “the beginning of the realization that God has a will for each of our lives. This pilgrimage is the greatest adventure that one could ever imagine.” Gard believes that Paper 140, The Ordination of the Twelve, should be read regularly, to understand and engage the greatest message ever delivered in the history of the planet. Gard holds a PhD in comparative religion from Pacifica Graduate Institute. He has published three books and teaches philosophy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, United States. He co-founded the Children's Advocacy Alliance, the Interfaith Council of Southern Nevada, the Nevada Community Foundation, and with his wife of over 40 years, Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada. He has been a trustee since 1998.

Olga López Molina
Olga López Molina
Trustee

Olga lives near Barcelona, Spain. She has degrees in computer science and philosophy. She is a civil servant working as a computer analyst in a public company. Married with two daughters in their twenties and a reader of The Urantia Book since 1995, she has been increasingly involved in the Urantia community at national and international levels. From 2008-2012, Olga served as an associate trustee of Urantia Foundation. She was president of the Urantia Association of Spain for eight years, and she served on the Spanish Revision Team of El libro de Urantia for over a decade. Olga was elected as trustee in 2022 and serves as the manager of the Spanish branch of UBIS.

Sherry Cathcart Chavis
Sherry Cathcart Chavis
Trustee

Sherry has been studying The Urantia Book since high school. She is a business professional with over 20 years in international and domestic development and fundraising in the non-profit sector. She holds a master’s degree in liberal studies from Duke University. She has led strategic planning and business development at Duke University Medical Center, Duke School of Medicine, and the Duke Clinical Research Institute. She currently works as a business development manager at a Fortune 500 IT company. Among many other service assignments, Sherry worked as editor of UAI’s Tidings and The Journal and served on the education committees of the Urantia Book Fellowship and Urantia Association International. Sherry is married and lives in Durham, North Carolina. Her daughter, Erica, is a third-generation reader. She became an associate trustee in 2016 and a trustee in 2022.

Víctor García-Bory
Víctor García-Bory
Trustee

A perennial learner, Víctor was born in Mexico City and now lives with his family in New York City. For more than 30 years, his professional career in the corporate, non-profit, and marketing and communications arenas in the United States and internationally has allowed him to work, serve, and interact with people of many nations, cultures, and sectors. He was manager of the Spanish desk at Urantia Foundation from 2001 through 2004, served as an associate trustee from 2010 through 2015, and as an associate trustee emeritus until his election as a trustee in 2022.

Chris Wood
Chris Wood
Trustee

Chris has been actively involved with the Urantia community since 1998. He served as a volunteer with Urantia Foundation, on our staff for a few years, as a member of several membership organizations, and on local and national boards, including as president of Urantia Association International from 2013 until 2021. Outside of Urantia service, Chris has worked as an air traffic controller for over fifteen years and is active in social and spiritual services in his community in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States. He is married to Alice Wood, an active leader in the Urantia community as well. Their two children have the rare distinction of having four grandparents who read and study The Urantia Book. Chris became an associate trustee in April 2021 and a trustee in 2022.

Geri Johnson
Geri Johnson
Associate Trustee

While growing up in the multi-cultural society of Hawaii, a teenage friend asked, “If Jesus had to come here and die for our sins, does he have to die on all the other worlds too?” That question burned in Geri until she found The Urantia Book at the age of 20. She was a founding member of the Urantia Fellowship Grand Canyon Society and served on the Urantia Book Fellowship’s General Council. She founded study groups in Singapore and India and has been a speaker and workshop leader at several conferences. She holds a master’s degree in speech pathology and audiology, and she spent 26 years as a school speech-language specialist and deputy principal in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and India. Since retiring, she volunteers in educational organizations and conducts workshops to foster personal and spiritual growth. Geri lives in Maui with her husband, Rob Mastroianni, and she is the mother of two sons, three grandsons, and one great-granddaughter. She became an associate trustee in 2019.

Marcel Peereboom
Marcel Peereboom
Associate Trustee

Marcel is a Dutch citizen who found The Urantia Book in the late 1980s and joined the study group of the family who translated The Urantia Book into Dutch. In 2007, he assisted the Dutch Urantia Association by improving their website and has since co-organized the annual Dutch Urantia Meeting on August 21. In 2015, the Dutch Association was invited to organize the 10th International Conference in 2018. The conference was a huge success, and that is where Marcel met members of Urantia Foundation. Since that time, he has been a part of the Foundation’s team, and he became an associate trustee in 2020.

Collins Lomo
Collins Lomo

Collins discovered The Urantia Book in 2011 while surfing the internet. Since then, he has hosted a study group in Accra to date. His passion for sharing the revelation among his fellows led him to participate in several Urantia Book conferences in Africa and beyond. Prior to joining Urantia Foundation, Collins served as the continental coordinator for Africa for Urantia Association International. He is from Ghana, West Africa, is a father of 3 daughters and one son, and is an accountant in the logistics industry.

Joyce Anderson
Joyce Anderson

Joyce has been reading The Urantia Book and participating in study groups for over 40 years. She is a second-generation reader. She and her husband, David, a teacher-facilitator for the Urantia Book International School, have two adult children and live near Albany, New York. Her Urantia-related service includes over 25 years of leadership roles in her local Urantia association and the Urantia Association of the United States. She has also held leadership roles in several local charitable organizations largely focused on helping children in need. Joyce is an employee benefits attorney for a global aerospace company. She became an associate trustee in 2024.

Richard Zhu
Richard Zhu

Richard is the chief translator of the Simplified Chinese translation of The Urantia Book. He spent 12 years on this work and was thrilled with its publication on Urantia Foundation’s website in March 2024. Richard is dedicated to bringing the fifth epochal revelation to the Chinese community and helping Chinese readers embrace these teachings that will “expand cosmi consciousness and enhance spiritual perception.” Richard was elected as an associate trustee in August 2024.

Tom Sadler
Tom Sadler

Tom was introduced to The Urantia Book early in life by his mother and father who were both long-time readers. Tom is a fourth-generation reader, and during the last thirty years, he has attended reading groups, has worked as an officer in the Greater Lake Michigan Urantia Association, and has served as an active promoter of the book. Professionally, he holds a Ph.D. in economics, serves as professor of economics, and writes books on contemporary economic issues. He teaches courses on the intersection between economic theory and human behavior. Along with his wife, Holly Stovall, he lives in Chicago, Illinois, near 533 West Diversey Parkway.

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