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Gerald DeGroot

Portrayed by Michael Gilday

Portrayed by [[{{{Actor1}}}]] and [[{{{Actor2}}}]]

First seen

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Last seen

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Appeared in

Swan orientation film
Pearl orientation video
Room 23 film

Mentioned in

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Centric episode(s)

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Name

Gerald DeGroot

Also Known As

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Status

Unknown

Age

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Date of birth

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Date of death

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Origin

Michigan, USA

Profession

Founder of the DHARMA Initiative

In Australia...

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On the plane...

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On the island...

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Family members

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Connection

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Season(s)

S1 - S2 - S3 - MP - S4

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Gerald DeGroot is the co-founder of the DHARMA Initiative, with his wife Karen DeGroot.

Before The DHARMA Initiative

They both were doctoral candidates at the University of Michigan, as seen in the Swan and Pearl Orientation films.

Founding The DHARMA Initiative

The DeGroots from the Pearl Orientation Video.

In 1970, Gerald and Karen DeGroot founded the DHARMA Initiative. It was, and may still be, financially backed by Danish industrialist and munitions magnate Alvar Hanso and his Hanso Foundation. The alleged purpose of the Initiative was to create "a large-scale communal research compound where scientists and free-thinkers from around the globe could pursue research in meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, and electromagnetism."

After The DHARMA Initiative

According to Thomas Mittlewerk, the DHARMA Initiative "failed". The whereabouts of this couple are unknown today but many theories have surfaced.

Trivia

• Gerald is seen briefly in the Room 23 video, wearing goggles. ("Not in Portland")

Name reference

• There is an accomplished author by the name of Gerard DeGroot. He published a number of articles on the First World War. He also wrote The 60s Unplugged: A Kaleidoscopic History of a Disorderly Decade.
• There was a Dutch novelist, philosopher and jurist named Hugo de Groot (lat. Grotius 1583–1645). [1]
• There was a chess master and psychologist by the name of Adriaan de Groot. He conducted many psychological chess experiments. He broke the thought process of choosing a move into 4 stages, the first of which being the 'orientation' phase. [2]
• There was a famous Sinologist by the name of Jan Jakob Maria de Groot (Pen name J.J.M. de Groot) He was essentially a historian of religion. http://www.umass.edu/wsp/sinology/persons/degroot.html
• There are numerous references to (fictional) persons named De Groot in the mock newspaper accompanying the original vinyl release of rock group Jethro Tull's 1972 album "Thick as a Brick". [3] Furthermore, there is a song entitled "Dharma for One" on their debut album "This Was".