George’s interest in archaeology began as a LDS missionary in the Andes Mountains of Peru and Bolivia. After a year at BYU and his mission, George returned to his home state of California and put aside his amateur archaeology interest. He graduated with high honors from the University of California at San Diego, and two years later received a master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. On leaving the university he became a certified public accountant, and joined one of the Big 5 CPA firms. Later he entered management and consulting, two professions which have taken him to over 50 countries, including a five-year stay in Zurich, Switzerland. For the last ten years he has owned Bear River Training and Consultancy, a training, e-learning and financial services company located in Saudi Arabia. It was while exploring the deserts of Arabia that his interest in archaeology was rekindled. He has lectured at universities in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. George is married to Susan Jenson Potter, and together they have ten children. Besides co-authoring a book, he has produced eight films on his Book of Mormon research. While researching and co-authoring the book Discovering the Valley of Lemuel: Bountiful and 79 Other Reasons Why First Nephi Is A True History, George has served as an Elders Quorum president and as a counselor in a branch presidency. His discovery of a Valley of Lemuel candidate was published by FARMS/BYU in the November 1999 issue of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. Since then he has made presentations on his research to FARMS/BYU, BYU Alumni Association of Los Angeles, Ancient Americas Foundation and the staff of the Ensign Magazine.
