They REALLY get it right!
Now in fairness, this award is sponsored by Omega, but for those of us that find things like science, rational discussion and, I don't know, being SMART important? Neil deGrasse Tyson is a bit of a folk hero.
Now I will get to the release here shortly, but truthfully, Omega should grab onto this opportunity and make this man one of their brand ambassadors. He is smart, photogenic, a fantastic communicator and I suspect will never get caught in a dodgy hotel room in an embarrassing situation.
And while pro athletes and actors are exciting and sexy, one thing that not everyone knows - like the future stars of professional sports, Mr. deGrasse Tyson was also highly recruited out of high school. He may be one of the very few high school students to ever have someone as highly regarded as Carl Sagan actively recruit him to attend a university as a non-sports playing undergraduate!
I am going to crib a bit from his Wikipedia page which also borrows from his book:
Tyson obsessively studied astronomy in his teen years, and eventually even gained some fame in the astronomy community by giving lectures on the subject at the age of fifteen.[15] Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was a faculty member at Cornell University, tried to recruit Tyson to Cornell for undergraduate studies.[6] In his book, The Sky Is Not the Limit, Tyson wrote:
Now I suspect that even Mr. Speedy Tuesday himself would approve of my proposal for Omega's next brand ambassador, but I'm going to send him a note to ask him to put it forward on my behalf ; )
Okay, so here's the press release from Omega - and be sure to send them your praise for this, because while we all love movie stars, we really NEED smart, open, positive people as role models. And I am personally hard-pressed to think of a more appropriate one for the Speedmaster!
 |
| Courtesy of Omega |
Now in fairness, this award is sponsored by Omega, but for those of us that find things like science, rational discussion and, I don't know, being SMART important? Neil deGrasse Tyson is a bit of a folk hero.
Now I will get to the release here shortly, but truthfully, Omega should grab onto this opportunity and make this man one of their brand ambassadors. He is smart, photogenic, a fantastic communicator and I suspect will never get caught in a dodgy hotel room in an embarrassing situation.
And while pro athletes and actors are exciting and sexy, one thing that not everyone knows - like the future stars of professional sports, Mr. deGrasse Tyson was also highly recruited out of high school. He may be one of the very few high school students to ever have someone as highly regarded as Carl Sagan actively recruit him to attend a university as a non-sports playing undergraduate!
I am going to crib a bit from his Wikipedia page which also borrows from his book:
Tyson obsessively studied astronomy in his teen years, and eventually even gained some fame in the astronomy community by giving lectures on the subject at the age of fifteen.[15] Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was a faculty member at Cornell University, tried to recruit Tyson to Cornell for undergraduate studies.[6] In his book, The Sky Is Not the Limit, Tyson wrote:
My letter of application had been dripping with an interest in the universe. The admission office, unbeknownst to me, had forwarded my application to Carl Sagan's attention. Within weeks, I received a personal letter...[16]Tyson revisited this moment on his first episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Pulling out a 1975 calendar belonging to the famous astronomer, he found the day Sagan invited the 17-year-old to spend a day in Ithaca. Sagan had offered to put him up for the night if his bus back to the Bronx did not come. Tyson said, "I already knew I wanted to become a scientist. But that afternoon, I learned from Carl the kind of person I wanted to become.
 |
| Courtesy of Omega |
Okay, so here's the press release from Omega - and be sure to send them your praise for this, because while we all love movie stars, we really NEED smart, open, positive people as role models. And I am personally hard-pressed to think of a more appropriate one for the Speedmaster!
OMEGA PRESENTS THREE SPEEDMASTERS TO THE WINNERS OF
STARMUS’ STEPHEN HAWKING MEDAL FOR SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
The Swiss watchmaker OMEGA has presented three unique Speedmaster watches to the winners of this year’s Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication at the 2017 Starmus Festival in Trondheim, Norway.
Jean-Michel Jarre, Neil deGrasse Tyson and the hit television series The Big Bang Theory, each received a specially-created OMEGA Speedmaster along with the festival’s major accolade.
The Starmus Festival, a combination of science, art and music, helps the general public understand and appreciate science. Since 2011, it has included performances and presentations from astronauts, cosmonauts, Nobel Prize winners and prominent figures from science,culture,the arts and music.
In line with its new partnership of the Starmus Festival, OMEGA contributed specially-engraved timepieces to be awarded along with the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, which recognises those who promote science through three different disciplines: science writing, films, music and art.
This year, the festival paid tribute to a pioneer musician Jean-Michel Jarre; astrophysicist, author, and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson, and the creators and cast of the hit television comedy series, The Big Bang Theory.
All three winners were presented with a brand new 18K yellow gold OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Chronograph.
The Swiss watchmaker OMEGA has presented three unique Speedmaster watches to the winners of this year’s Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication at the 2017 Starmus Festival in Trondheim, Norway.
Jean-Michel Jarre, Neil deGrasse Tyson and the hit television series The Big Bang Theory, each received a specially-created OMEGA Speedmaster along with the festival’s major accolade.
The Starmus Festival, a combination of science, art and music, helps the general public understand and appreciate science. Since 2011, it has included performances and presentations from astronauts, cosmonauts, Nobel Prize winners and prominent figures from science,culture,the arts and music.
In line with its new partnership of the Starmus Festival, OMEGA contributed specially-engraved timepieces to be awarded along with the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, which recognises those who promote science through three different disciplines: science writing, films, music and art.
This year, the festival paid tribute to a pioneer musician Jean-Michel Jarre; astrophysicist, author, and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson, and the creators and cast of the hit television comedy series, The Big Bang Theory.
All three winners were presented with a brand new 18K yellow gold OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Chronograph.
Accepting his award, musician Jean-Michel Jarre said: “It is indeed a truly great honor to have been chosen by
Professor Hawking and the Starmus board to win this year’s Stephen Hawking Medal for Science
Communication, for my music. Since I composed Oxygene 40 years ago as a manifesto for climate change and
as an alert for the awareness of the future of our planet, my music has been very much inspired by, and linked to,
space,time and science.I am proud,yet humbled,to receive this medal in recognition of my work".
Equally thrilled to receive the festival's accolade, Neil deGrasse Tyson spoke of his debt to Stephen Hawking, saying: “With this award, we are all reminded that Prof. Stephen Hawking himself has given much of his professional life to writing books, delivering lectures, and appearing on TV shows for the public. His legacy as a populariser of science is what brings great honor to me".
The Big Bang Theory's executive producers Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro were unable to attend the event, but delivered their acceptance speech via a video message.
"We are thrilled to accept this award on behalf of the show. Never in 14 billion years did we think The Big Bang Theory would become what it has and we are eternally grateful to Professor Hawking, the science community, and everyone who has embraced it as their own. For those we have inspired to pursue the sciences, we are deeply honored.To Stephen and everyone at Starmus –Thank you".
The three winners of the Stephen Hawking medal each received an OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Chronograph. The 42 mm case and bezel are made from 18K yellow gold and the black dial also includes 18K yellow gold hands and indexes. The watch is distinguished by its unique caseback which includes the words “WINNER OF THE STEPHEN HAWKING MEDAL FOR SCIENCE COMMUNICATION”, as well as a laser-engraved medallion that follows the exact design of the medal itself. This includes the Starmus logo and images of Alexei Leonov during the first human spacewalk and the “Red Special” guitar of Queen’s Brian May. The watch is presented on a black leather strap and is driven by the famous OMEGA calibre 1861, virtually the same hand-wound movement that powered the timepieces NASA’s astronauts wore on the Moon.
Equally thrilled to receive the festival's accolade, Neil deGrasse Tyson spoke of his debt to Stephen Hawking, saying: “With this award, we are all reminded that Prof. Stephen Hawking himself has given much of his professional life to writing books, delivering lectures, and appearing on TV shows for the public. His legacy as a populariser of science is what brings great honor to me".
The Big Bang Theory's executive producers Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro were unable to attend the event, but delivered their acceptance speech via a video message.
"We are thrilled to accept this award on behalf of the show. Never in 14 billion years did we think The Big Bang Theory would become what it has and we are eternally grateful to Professor Hawking, the science community, and everyone who has embraced it as their own. For those we have inspired to pursue the sciences, we are deeply honored.To Stephen and everyone at Starmus –Thank you".
The three winners of the Stephen Hawking medal each received an OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Chronograph. The 42 mm case and bezel are made from 18K yellow gold and the black dial also includes 18K yellow gold hands and indexes. The watch is distinguished by its unique caseback which includes the words “WINNER OF THE STEPHEN HAWKING MEDAL FOR SCIENCE COMMUNICATION”, as well as a laser-engraved medallion that follows the exact design of the medal itself. This includes the Starmus logo and images of Alexei Leonov during the first human spacewalk and the “Red Special” guitar of Queen’s Brian May. The watch is presented on a black leather strap and is driven by the famous OMEGA calibre 1861, virtually the same hand-wound movement that powered the timepieces NASA’s astronauts wore on the Moon.
