Plenary Speakers
Jack Horner – Curator of Paleontology
Category: Scientist
10:30 a.m., Thursday, April 16, 2009
From 1982 until the present, Jack Horner has worked at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, where he is the Ameya Preserve Curator of Paleontology and Montana State University Regents' Professor of Paleontology. Dr. Horner discovered the first dinosaur eggs in the Western Hemisphere, the first evidence of dinosaur colonial nesting, the first evidence of parental care among dinosaurs and the first dinosaur embryos. His research covers a wide range of topics about dinosaurs, including their behavior, physiology, ecology and evolution. Dr. Horner has named a number of new dinosaurs, such as Maiasaura peeblesorum, Orodromeus makelai, Hypacrosaurus stebingeri, Prosaurolophus blackfeetensis, Gryposaurus latidens, and Brachylophosaurus goodwini. Achelosaurus horneri and Anasazisaurus horneri were named after him. He was the technical advisor to Steven Spielberg for the movies Jurassic Park and its sequel, The Lost World. Horner also advised director Joe Johnston on Jurassic Park III.
Bill Miller – Singer/Songwriter
Category: Arts
10 a.m., Friday, April 17, 2009
A Mohican Indian from northern Wisconsin, Bill Miller has
long been one of the most admired figures in the Native American
music arena and beyond. As an award-winning recording
artist, performer, songwriter, activist, and painter, he's been
a voice for the voiceless, a link between two great and clashing
civilizations. On SPIRIT RAIN, he walks the path of
reconciliation in a set of fourteen heartfelt songs and
evocative instrumentals. Co-produced by Bill and Michael von
Muchow, and written or co-written entirely by Bill, SPIRIT RAIN
took the singer back to his roots. It was recorded at
Actual Sound Studios in La Crosse, WI, not far from the
Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation he called home. Perhaps the
album's most touching track is "Prayers For The Truth," which
restates all that the Native American community hold sacred,
while offering forgiveness to those that nearly annihilated an
entire people. "I don't want anyone to carry around this guilt,"
says Bill. "All we need is to be allowed to speak, to
mourn, to express anger, then be allowed to forgive our
oppressors. That could lead to a deeply powerful spiritual
change in the U.S. and the world. It could be a statement
about the peacemaking that comes with courage." Bill Miller is a
two time Grammy award winner and also won the Native American
Music Awards for Best Songwriter, Song, Folk Artist and Artist
of the Year. He has shared the stage with Pearl Jam, Tori Amos,
BoDeans, Richie Havens, and Arlo Gunthrie.
Mark C. Lee - Astronaut
Category: Engineering
2:15 p.m., Friday, April 17, 2009
Born and raised in
Viroqua, Wisconsin, Mark desired to be an astronaut since he was
in the 3rd grade. After graduating from Viroqua High
School in 1970 he went on to receive his Bachelor of Science
degree in civil engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy in
1974, and a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980. Following
pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, and F-4
upgrade at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, Lee spent 2-1/2 years
at Okinawa Air Base, Japan, flying F-4’s in the 25th Tactical
Fighter Squadron. After graduation in 1980, he was assigned to
Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, in the Airborne Warning
and Control System (AWACS) Program Office, as the operational
support manager. In 1982 he returned to flying, upgrading in the
F-16 and serving as executive officer for the 388th Tactical
Fighter Wing Deputy Commander for Operations, and as flight
commander in the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force
Base, Utah, until his selection as an astronaut candidate.
Lee was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in May 1984.
In June 1985, he completed a one-year training and
evaluation program, qualifying him for assignment as a mission
specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. A veteran of
four space flights, Lee has traveled over 13 million miles going
around the world 517 times and spending 33 days in orbit.
He flew as a mission specialist on STS-30 (May 4-8, 1989) and
STS-64 (September 9-20, 1994), and was the Payload Commander on
STS-47 (September 12-20, 1992), and STS-82 (February 11-21,
1997). Lee retired from NASA and the Air Force effective July 1,
2001.
Anne Bancroft – Female Adventurer and
Polar Explorer
Category: Adventure
10 a.m., Saturday, April 18, 2009
As the first and only woman to cross the ice to both the
North and South Poles, Ann Bancroft leads audiences of all ages
on a variety of historic journeys with interpersonal stories of
leadership and adventure combined with historic film and still
imagery. Whether Ann is sharing stories from the recent Bancroft
Arnesen Expedition, a 1,717 mile journey on foot to become the
first women to cross the continent of Antarctica last year,
leading the American Women's Expedition, the first women's
expedition to the South Pole in 1994 or traveling with seven men
and 49 male dogs as the only woman on the Steger International
Polar Expedition to the North Pole in 1986, she translates her
challenges and accomplishments to everyday life and empowers
each person to work individually or as a team to reach their
goals.