Bill Nye to Receive National NASA Space Grant Distinguished Service Award

PRIMARY CONTACT
Eric Day
Program Manager, NASA District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium
c/o American University Department of Physics
4400 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., SCAN 182, Washington DC 20016
Tel: 202-210-8732
Email: [email protected]

Arlington, VA (March 2, 2016) -- On Friday, March 4, 2016, Dr. William Nye (“Bill Nye The Science Guy”) will receive the National NASA Space Grant Distinguished Service Award at the Westin Crystal City in Arlington, VA. The reception, dinner, presentation of Award, and brief talk and Q&A by Dr. Nye will take place from approximately 6:30pm-9:45pm.

The event was organized by Eric Day and Megan Kemble of the NASA District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium, which is located at American University in Washington DC. Attendees of the event will include Space Grant representatives from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico; NASA representatives from several NASA Centers; and various STEM faculty and students from around the country.

Dr. Nye was nominated by the NASA Space Grant community in recognition of his dedication to STEM literacy and in recognition that his life and career has had a long lasting impact on STEM education. According to NASA District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium Program Manager Eric Day, an organizer of the event, “Bill Nye has a unique gift of making STEM fun and interesting for people of all ages. He’s not only brilliant, but he has the ability to communicate that brilliance and make STEM appealing to a broad audience. He doesn’t shy away from controversial subjects like climate change and evolution, and he is a fierce proponent of the enormous benefits and applicability of STEM in our everyday lives.”

Past recipients of the Award include STEM education luminaries Lloyd Bentsen, James Van Allen, Peter Diamandis, John Glenn, John Young, Leon Lederman, Vera Rubin, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sally Ride, Julius Dasch, and Ellen Ochoa.

Tickets to the event are sold out. Media who wish to cover the event should contact Eric Day at [email protected] to arrange for admittance to the event. The website for the event is located at: http://national.spacegrant.org/2016SpringNational/index.html