Distinguished Speaker Series

|| HOME || PROGRAMS || SUCCESS SERIES || ORIENTATION || RESOURCES/FAQS || ABOUT FYE ||

2008 First-Year Distinguished Speaker
Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. His interest in the cosmos began at age nine while gazing at the stars from the roof of his apartment building in New York City. Growing up, Tyson had a few precious people who cared enough to support his fascination in science—a boyhood friend who gave him a pair of binoculars, his parents who bought him science books, and a sixth-grade teacher who recommended an astronomy course at the Hayden Planetarium. With their guidance, Tyson built a career full of distinction.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Tyson is a monthly essayist for National History magazine and is the host of the popular PBS science magazine NOVA Science Now. He also hosted NOVA’s critically and publicly acclaimed four-part miniseries Origins. Tyson has published eight best-selling books, including his latest, Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries. He has been appointed by President Bush to serve on two commissions addressing the future of the U.S. aerospace industry and the implementation of space exploration. Among other distinctions, Tyson was voted the “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive” in People magazine’s 2000 “Sexiest Man Alive” issue.

Find out more

Tour of Tyson’s “Cosmic Office”
Neil deGrasse Tyson’s official web page
Time Magazine's 100 People Who Shape Our World

Previous distinguished speakers

Morgan Spurlock, Academy Award nominated director (2007)
Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize winner and author of The Green Belt Movement (2006)
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, authors of the best-selling book Freakonomics (2005)
Anna Deavere Smith, Obie-award winning playwright and actor (2005)
Mario Cuomo, former governor of New York (2004)
Andrew Young, former ambassador to the United Nations (2003)