Bill Nye to speak in March
As if Third Eye Blind, Bill Bellamy and Jack Hanna weren’t enough, another nostalgic figure from 90s childhood will speak at Syracuse University.
Bill Nye the Science Guy will speak March 19 for a 7 p.m. presentation in Goldstein Auditorium. The Society of Physics Students, a campus science organization with 15 active members, is sponsoring the event.
He is slated to give an interactive, visual presentation and answer students’ questions, but he does not perform any experiments when he travels, said Jessica McIver, president of the society and a junior physics major.
Nye was contacted because he’s an engaging performer and would be popular among students, McIver said.
‘We wanted a name everyone knew,’ she said. ‘People who don’t usually get involved in science would come to see him.’
Nye began his career as an engineer by day and a comedian by night. His fame escalated when he hosted ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy,’ a popular science television program for pre-teens. The show ran from 1993 through 1997 on the Public Broadcast Station, receiving 28 Emmys in these five years. Reruns aired on Noggin until 2002.
Nye periodically teaches at Cornell University as part of the Frank H.T.
Rhodes Visiting Professorship. He received a bachelor’s of science degree in mechanical engineering at Cornell.
According to his Web site, he currently hosts two television shows, ‘The 100 Greatest Discoveries,’ on the Science Channel and ‘The Eyes of Nye,’ on various PBS stations across the country.
Though the event is hosted by a physics organization, it is geared toward a broader university audience, McIver said.
‘We hope it will bring in people who have interests of every kind,’ she said. ‘I think the audience will come away with more of an appreciation for science and just more knowledge in general.’
The group posted handwritten ‘hype’ flyers around campus to get students talking about the event, McIver said. It plans to put up official posters at the end of the week.
The society hopes students with various interests, not just in physics and science, will notice the flyers and take advantage of the opportunity to see such a famous personality, she said.
‘Students will have a little more knowledge about how the world works in really cool ways,’ McIver said. Nye ‘can always surprise you with things you thought you understood, and every time he presents something, you learn even more.’
Published on February 18, 2008 at 12:00 pm
