Rae Dorough Speakers Series

This is the fifth season of Livermore's Rae Dorough Speakers Series. As always, our goal is to bring interesting speakers with a wide range of topics to stimulate and inform - science, health, adventure and entertainment. All talks are followed by a question period and a reception in the Bankhead Theater lobby for speaker and audience - an interaction that is a major addition to the excitement of the event.

SEASON SUBSCRIPTION (not currently available)

Series season subscriptions offer you several advantages: discounted tickets, discovering how much you enjoy a speaker you may have otherwise missed, and the opportunity to attend a special evening with LLNL's resident Astronauts "Destination: Space Station and Beyond" is available only to 2012-13 series subscribers.

Series of 4 lectures PLUS special Astronauts' Event: $100 | Individual Lectures $30, Students 21 and Under $14

Markie Post

September 19, 2012                   Wednesday, 7:30 pm 
Fact or Fiction? My Life in Hollywood

Television and screen actress, Markie Post, is best known for her roles as bail bondswoman Terri Michaels in The Fall Guy on ABC from 1982 to 1985, as public defender Christine Sullivan on the NBC sitcom Night Court from 1985 to 1992, and as Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire from 1992 to 1995. She offers intriguing insights into a career in Hollywood. She is the daughter of Livermore scientist, Richard Post. Youtube

Ed Larson

October 25, 2012                   Thursday, 7:30 pm
Scott, Amundsen, and Science: The Unequal Race for the South Pole

In a sensational “race” that captured the world’s attention 100 years ago, teams led by Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott became the first to reach the South Pole. Amundsen won this “race” in part because Scott’s expedition was burdened with an extensive scientific program. Pulitzer Prize winning historian Edward Larson retells this story in light of Scott’s science and Amundsen’s focus. Larson’s recent book on science in the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, “An Empire of Ice”, was a finalist for Britain’s prestigious Hessell-Tiltman Prize in 2012. Youtube

Francis Slakey

November 28, 2012                   Wednesday, 7:30 pm     
To The Last Breath: A Personal Quest

Scientist, author, adventurer, Francis Slakey set out to summit the highest mountain on every continent and to surf every ocean. He found this not only tested his physical limits, but also challenged his long-held intellectual beliefs and inspired a new understanding of human interdependence. Dr. Francis Slakey is the Upjohn Lecturer on Physics and Public Policy at Georgetown University and an Associate Director of Public Affairs at the American Physical Society, where his focus is the intersection of science and society. He is the founder and co-director of the Program on Science in the Public Interest, a Lemelson Associate of the Smithsonian Institution and a MacArthur Scholar. Youtube

Elizabeth Blackburn

February 11, 2013                   Monday, 7:30 pm      
Aging, Cancer & Stress

Why do we age, yet cancer cells seem immortal? Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn investigates the roles of telomeres, the specialized ends of chromosomes, and of telomerase, the enzyme that repairs telomeres. Her seminal research and insight is recognized the world over. Her many awards include being named as one of Time magazine’s 100 “Most Influential People in the World” in 2007, and receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 2009. She served on the Presidential Bioethics Committee and is Past President of the American Society for Cancer Research. She is the Morris Herzstein Professor of Biology and Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco. Youtube

Tammy Jernigan and Jeff Wisoff

March 27, 2013                   Wednesday, 7:30 pm
Destination: Space Station and Beyond

FREE Student Event! Tickets available at box office only for any Student.
Special bonus event for RDSS 2012-2013 season subscribers - tickets will be included with your order.

No other tickets will be sold.

Two former NASA astronauts, now at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, share their spaceflight experiences: building the International Space Station, conducting spacewalks, and living in space. With video and photographs, they will take you through a mission from Shuttle launch to docking with the International Space Station to returning home again. Come relive the adventure!

Sponsored by Lynn Seppala