Speaker Details

Biography:

Tom Rockwell is Associate Director for Program and Director of Exhibits at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Visual arts training and a life-long interest in combining art and science led
him to work first as an educator in science museums (Franklin Institute and Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia), and then as a designer and construction coordinator of community-built science parks and science playgrounds with Leathers and Associates (Ithaca, New York). In 1995 Tom founded Painted Universe Inc. to pursue exhibit design, fabrication, and scientific illustration. Projects included exhibits for the Materials Research Society; traveling exhibitions, such as “It’s a Nano World” (with the Ithaca Sciencenter and Cornell University) and “The Enchanted Museum: Exploring the Science of Art” (with the Berkshire Museum); and illustrations for The Elegant Universe by Brian Green.

In 2005, Tom joined the staff at the Exploratorium as Director of Exhibits, and in 2007 also became Associate Director for Program. Major projects at the Exploratorium have included: the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network with a focus on the Visualization Laboratory; Geometry Playground, which opened in June of 2010; the Science in the Stacks project for the Queens Borough Public Library’s new Children’s Library Discovery Center, which opened in late 2011; and intensive involvement in the design and planning for the Exploratorium’s move to Piers 15 and 17 on the San Francisco waterfront, which opened in the spring of 2013.

Born and raised in Rome, Italy (by American expatriate parents), Tom came to the United States to attend college in the early 80s. In addition to his professional trajectory he has pursued interests in music and improvisational dance and speaks fluent Italian and Spanish. He lives in Berkeley, California with his partner Rosemary Hannon and his two children, Lucia (10) and Mateo (12). He spends his free time dancing or learning about neuroscience, emergent phenomena and complex systems.

Status: Confirmed

Papers/Presentations

Getting Started: Planning, Designing and Opening New Science Centers

The conversation will focus on key ingredients for planning, design and opening a new science center. What core assumptions are made early on in the process that shape the future of your institution? How do you analyze the needs and talents of your community? How do you build an extended family of educators, scientists and artists who will help shape and advocate for your center? How do you balance expertise drawn from other science centers with innovations that arise from your local context? Presentations from each of the three new science centers will be followed by a conversation in response to questions generated by audience members.

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