James Randi Educational Foundation

Template:Short description Template:Infobox organization The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is an American grant-making institution founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. As a nonprofit organization, the mission of JREF includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of accepting unproven claims, and to support research into paranormal claims in controlled scientific experimental conditions. The organization announced its change to a grant-making foundation in September 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The organization previously administered the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, a prize of one million U.S. dollars to anyone who could demonstrate a supernatural or paranormal ability under agreed-upon scientific testing criteria.

The organization has been funded through member contributions, grants, and conferences, though it ceased accepting memberships after 2015. For several years, the JREF website published the blog Swift, which included news and information as well as exposés of paranormal claimants.<ref>Template:Cite web JREF Swift Blog</ref>

History

File:Randi 1983.jpg

Founder James Randi in 1983

The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) officially came into existence on February 29, 1996, when it was registered as a nonprofit corporation in the State of Delaware in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web Delaware Dept. of State, Division of Corporations official website, Corporation Name Search: "The James Randi Educational Foundation. Incorporation Date / Formation Date: February 29, 1996. Entity Type: Non-Profit or Religious."</ref> On April 3, 1996, James Randi formally announced the creation of JREF through his email hotline.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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JREF is now headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia.<ref name="los-angeles-2014">Template:Cite web</ref>

Randi stated that Johnny Carson was a major sponsor, giving several six-figure donations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

From 2003 to 2015, JREF annually hosted The Amazing Meeting (styled as The Amaz!ng Meeting), a gathering of scientists, skeptics, and atheists. Perennial speakers included Richard Dawkins, Penn & Teller, Phil Plait, Michael Shermer, and Adam Savage.

In 2008, the astronomer Philip Plait became the new president of JREF, and Randi became its board chairman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In December 2009, Plait left JREF due to involvement in a television project, and D.J. Grothe assumed the position of president on January 1, 2010,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> holding the position until his departure from the organization was announced on September 1, 2014.<ref name="los-angeles-2014"/>

The San Francisco newspaper SF Weekly reported in August 2009, that Randi's annual salary was about $200,000.<ref name="SF-Weekly">Template:Cite web SF Weekly, August 24, 2009, online version, p. 2: "One of his friends, Internet pioneer Rick Adams, put up $1 million in 1996."</ref>

Randi resigned from JREF in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As of January 2024, JREF leadership consisted of:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

President: Banachek (Steven Shaw) of Las Vegas, Nevada
Secretary: Daniel Denman of Silver Spring, Maryland
Treasurer / Assistant Secretary: Richard L. Adams Jr. of Fort Lauderdale, Florida

One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge

Template:Main In 1964, Randi began offering a prize of US$1,000 to anyone who could demonstrate a paranormal ability under agreed-upon testing conditions. This prize was later increased to US$1Template:Nbspmillion in bonds and was administered by JREF. Since its inception, more than 1,000 people applied to be tested.

The Challenge was eventually terminated,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with JREF noting in 2015, "We can no longer justify the resources to interact with these people."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> No applicants managed to demonstrate their claimed abilities under the testing conditions, with all applicants either failing to demonstrate the claimed ability during the test or deviating from the foundation conditions for taking the test such that any apparent success was held invalid; thus, the prize was not awarded.

Podcasts and videos

The foundation produced two audio podcasts, For Good Reason which was an interview program hosted by D.J. Grothe, promoting critical thinking and skepticism about the central beliefs of society. It has not been active since December 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Consequence was a biweekly podcast hosted by former outreach coordinator Brian Thompson in which regular people shared their personal narratives about the negative impact a belief in pseudoscience, superstition, and the paranormal had had on their lives. It has not been active since May, 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The JREF also produced a regular video cast and YouTube show, The Randi Show, in which former JREF outreach coordinator Brian Thompson interviewed Randi on a variety of skeptical topics, often with lighthearted or comedic commentary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It has not been active since August 2012. In November 2015, Harriet Hall produced a series of ten lectures called Science Based Medicine for the JREF. The videos deal with various complementary alternative medicine subjects including homeopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, and more.<ref>Template:Cite web Template:Cbignore</ref>

The JREF posted many of its educational videos from The Amaz!ng Meeting and other events online. There are lectures by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Carol Tavris, Lawrence Krauss, live tests of the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, workshops on cold reading by Ray Hyman, and panels featuring leading thinking on various topics related to JREF's educational mission on the JREF YouTube channel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> JREF past president D.J. Grothe has claimed that the JREF's YouTube channel was once the "10th most subscribed nonprofit channel of all time",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> though its status in 2013 was 39th and most non-profits do not register for this status.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The foundation produced its own "Internet Audio Show" which ran January–December 2002 and was broadcast via a live stream. The archive can be found as mp3 files on the JREF website<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and as a podcast on iTunes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Forum and online community

As part of the JREF's goal of educating the general population about science and reason, people involved in their community ran a popular skeptic based online forum<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with the overall goal of promoting "critical thinking and providing the public with the tools needed to reliably examine paranormal, supernatural, and pseudoscientific claims".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On October 5, 2014, this online forum was divorced from the JREF and moved as its own entity to International Skeptics Forum.

Swoopy from Skepticality podcast interviews actress and comedienne Julia Sweeney at The Amazing Meeting.

Swoopy from Skepticality podcast interviews actress and comedienne Julia Sweeney at The Amazing Meeting.
Two zombies hold a check for one million dollars for James Van Praagh if he can prove he can talk to the dead.

Two zombies hold a check for one million dollars for James Van Praagh if he can prove he can talk to the dead.
Origami Pigasus invented for the JREF by Richard Saunders

Origami Pigasus invented for the JREF by Richard Saunders

The JREF has also helped to support local grassroot efforts and outreach endeavors, such as SkeptiCamp, Camp Inquiry,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and various community-organized conferences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, according to their tax filing, they spend less than $2,000 a year on other organizations or individuals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

JREF Award

File:James Randi on JREF Gerbic prize 2017.webm

James Randi announces Susan Gerbic has won the JREF prize for 2017.

The JREF Award "is given to the person or organization that best represents the spirit of the foundation by encouraging critical questions and seeking unbiased, fact-based answers." Some of the recipients include the following: