OUR Leaders

While OUR leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and have a wide range of expertise, all are passionate about orangutans and engaged in saving the species through OURF.

  • Gary L. Shapiro, President

    Gary L. Shapiro, Ph.D. began his involvement with orangutans 50 years ago in the field of primate cognition and learning. He was the first person (1973-1975) to teach a symbolic ... Read more

  • Leif Cocks, Vice President

    The Orangutan Project was established in 1998 by founder and world-renowned orangutan expert, Leif Cocks, as a result of his almost 30-year career working with orangutans. Leif is a passionate ... Read more

  • Susan Callery, Treasurer

    Susan became intensely interested in orangutans and rainforest preservation on a trip to Borneo in 2007. Since that time, she earned a master's degree in environmental policy and management and ... Read more

  • Liz Varnhagen, Secretary

    Following her service with the Peace Corps in Borneo teaching secondary school many years ago, Liz has maintained a keen interest in conservation issues in Malaysia and Indonesia, and has ... Read more

  • Robert Kounang, Governing Board Member

    Dr. Robert Kounang is a medical doctor and has served as Head of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of ArrowHead Regional Medical Center, a trauma center, from 1996 ... Read more

  • Cheryl Parrish, Governing Board Member

    Cheryl Parrish graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business with training in Accounting and Information Technology. While in school, she founded a successful company that she still runs ... Read more

  • Eric Raymond, Governing Board Member

    Eric Raymond has been leading innovation in the benefits and human resources technology sectors for more than 35 years. Read more

  • Max Tramboo, Governing Board Member

    Max Tramboo is a successful entrepreneur from Munich who started Panomatics.com in 2005 in the Truman Brewery, one of London’s creative hubs. Over the last 13 years, he has transformed ... Read more