HONORARY ASSOCIATES OF
RATIONALIST INTERNATIONAL
About Us
The Honorary Associates of Rationalist International are outstanding Rationalists, remarkable contributors to the cause of reason, letters, culture, democracy, or science who have joined Rationalist International as advisors and patrons.
Honorary Associates of Rationalist International who have passed away are also listed below.
Founder and President
Sanal Edamaruku
Indian-born author, rationalist, and free speech activist, President of Indian Rationalist Association, now living in Finland.
Honorary Associates of
RATIONALIST INTERNATIONAL
Michael Archer
Palaeontologist, Australia
Head of Evolution of Earth & Life Systems Research Group at the University of New South Wales
Richard Dawkins
Author, Evolutionary Biologist, UK
Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public
Understanding of Science at Oxford University (1995-2008)
Rob Tielman
Sociologist, The Netherlands.
Former president of IHEU, Former professor of Social and Cultural Aspects of Humanism in Utrecht.
Helena Cronin
Author, UK
Co-director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the London School of Economics.
Ellen Johnson
Activist, USA.
Leading the fight for the civil rights of Atheists and for the separation of church and state, USA. Served as the president of the American Atheists (1995 to 2008).
Małgorzata Koraszewska
Author, Poland
Co-founder of Polish rationalist website Racjonalista.pl, the biggest center for publicizing free-thinkers and rationalists in Poland.
Taslima Nasrin
Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist.
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Jim Herrick
Trustee of the British Rationalist Association. Editor of its journal New Humanist for 18 years from 1984. Recipient of International Rationalist Award in 2002.
Bill Cooke
Author and former president of New Zealand Rationalists and humanists. Teaches philosophy in Warrington.
Younus Sheikh
Founder of Enlightenment, a rationalist association in Pakistan. Sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan. Now living in exile in Europe.
K Veeramani
Author and public speaker. President of Dravidar Kazhagam, a pioneering rationalist and social justice organisation in Tamil Nadu, India.
Richard Wiseman
Author and psychologist. Professor of Public Understanding of Psychology, at the University of Hertfordshire, UK.
Richard Stallman
American free software movement activist and programmer. Launched the GNU Project, and founded the Free Software Foundation in 1985.
Jan Loab Eisler
Former board member of the Council for Secular Humanism (USA) and former vice-president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union.
Steiner Nilsen
Humanist activist, Norway.
Former president of Human Etisk Forbund (Norway), and European Humanist Federation.
Katsuaki Asai
Japanese Rationalist and founder of the first Rationalist Association in Japan.
Honorary Associates who have passed away
Sir Herman Bondi (November 1, 1919 - September 10, 2005)
Head of the European Space Research Organisation (1967-1971). Mathematician, astronomer, physicist, and cosmologist.
Christofer Hitchens (April 13, 1949 - December 15, 2011)
British-American author, journalist, and anti-theist who wrote or edited over 30 books. Was editor of New Statesman, The Nation, and Vanity Fair.
Sir Colin Blakemore (1, June 1944 – 27, June 2022)
British neurobiologist. Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, Chief Executive of the British Medical Research Council (MRC).
Pieter Admiraal (16, June 1929 – 30, November 2013 )
Anesthesiologist in The Netherlands. A leading spokesperson for the right to physician-assisted suicide. Member of the International Academy of Humanism.
James Randi (August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020)
Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic. Challenged pseudoscientific claims. Founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation
Joseph Edamaruku (7, September 1934 – 29, June 2006)
Indian author and rationalist who influenced a generation of freethinkers and rationalists in India. President of the Indian Rationalist Association from 1995 to 2005
Vern Bullough (24, July 1928 – 21, June 2006)
American historian and sexologist. Distinguished professor emeritus at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Faculty President at California State University, Northridge.
Pekka Elo (14, July 1949 – 14, December 2013)
Finnish educationist and author. Chief Inspector of the Board of Education and the Board of Education. Chairman of the Finnish Humanist Union (1999 - 2013)
Antony Flew (11, February 1923 – 8, April 2010)
British philosopher. Taught at the universities of Oxford, Aberdeen, Keele, and Reading, and at York University in Toronto.
Paul Kurtz (21, December 1925 – 20, October 2012)
American scientific skeptic and secular humanist. Professor of Philosophy at State University of New York at Buffalo. Founder of Center for Inquiry and Prometheus Books. The recipient of the International Rationalist award - 2000.
G. Lavanam (10, October 1930 – 14, August 2015)
Gandhian and Sarvodaya leader. Director of the atheist center In Vijayawada, Worked in Mahatma Gandhi’s Sevagram ashram and assisted Vinoba Bhave.
Henry Morgentaler (19, March 1923 – 29, May 2013)
Polish-born Canadian physician and abortion rights advocate. During WWII, he was imprisoned at the Łódź Ghetto and later at the Dachau concentration camp.
Harry Stopes-Roe (27, March 1924 – 11, May 2014)
British philosopher. Trustee of the British Rationalist Association and President of the British Humanist Association. A former professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham.
G.N.Jyothi Sankar
Indian author. General Secretary of Indian Rationalist Association (1970-79). Organized the first Divine Miracle Exposure national campaign in India in 1975.
Jean Claude-Pecker (10, May 1923– 2020, February 2020)
French astronomer, astrophysicist and author, member of the French Academy of Sciences, and director of the Nice Observatory.
Ajoy Roy (1, March 1935 – 9, December 2019)
Bangladeshi professor of physics at the University of Dhaka. Was best known for his prominent role in Bangladesh's human rights activism and rationalism.
David Tribe (17, December 1931 - 30, May 2017)
Australian author. While in the UK he was President of the National Secular Society (1963–1971), and editor of The Freethinker (1966).
Barry Williams (10, November 1938 – 20, January 2018)
Australian skeptic and writer. President of the Australian Skeptics (1986-1997). Editor of The Skeptic magazine for 18 years.
Lewis Wolpert (19, October 1929 – 28, January 2021)
South African-born British developmental biologist, author, and broadcaster. Was a professor of Biology in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at University College London.
Barbara Smoker (2, June 1923 – 7, April 2020)
British humanist activist and freethought advocate. Was President of the National Secular Society, and Chair of the British Voluntary Euthanasia Society.
G. Vijayam (1, December 1936 - 22, May 2020)
Indian social reformer and Executive Director of Atheist Centre in Vijayawada. Scholar in Political Science and Gandhian studies. Editor of Atheist magazine.
Tom Flinn (18, August 1955 – 23, August 2021)
American author, journalist, novelist, Executive Director of the Council for Secular Humanism, and editor of its journal Free Inquiry.
Richard Leakey (19, December 1944 - 2, January 2022)
Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist, and politician. He has also headed Kenya's National Museums and Nature Conservation agencies and served in the Parliament of Kenya.
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