Keynote Speakers - Association of Science and Technology Centers

ASTC 2024 Annual Conference

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Keynote Sessions

All Times CDT

The ASTC 2024 Annual Conference will include three plenary sessions that will bring the entire community together.

Saturday, September 28, 2024
- Opening Keynote
Sunday, September 29, 2024
- Alan J. Friedman Science Center Dialogues
Monday, September 30, 2024
- Monday Keynote

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Opening Keynote Session
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Grand Ballroom, McCormick Place

Join us as we kick off the ASTC 2024 Annual Conference with an opening keynote.

The session will feature a fireside chat with Dr. Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson, in conversation with Dr. Chevy Humphrey, President and CEO of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry; the discussion will be moderated by Bill Peters, Managing Director of The CEO Forum Group. SC Johnson worked in partnership with Conservation International to present The Blue Paradox, an immersive experience at Griffin MSI to highlight the plastic pollution problem in our oceans. Using this exhibit as a case study, their conversation will focus on the power of the power of cross-sector collaboration to drive innovation and tackle pressing societal challenges.

Dr. Fisk Johnson is the Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson, a global maker of household, personal care, baby care, and professional products with sales in almost every country in the world. He joined the company in 1987 and was appointed CEO in 2004.

Dr. Johnson currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Consumer Goods Forum. He has also served on the boards of Conservation International, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and Conservation International’s Center for Environmental Leadership in Business. Dr. Johnson has been privileged to serve on two federal advisory committees—as a member of the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology from 2019 to 2021 and as a member of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations from 2002 to 2010 and again from 2011 to 2015.

Dr. Johnson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Physics, a Master of Engineering, a Master of Science in Physics, a Master of Business Administration, and a doctorate in Physics, all from Cornell University. He served on the Cornell University Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2001 and is now a Trustee Emeritus and Presidential Counselor. He has also served on the University of Chicago’s Physical Sciences Division Council since 1996.

With a strong combined background in science and business, Dr. Johnson is a passionate advocate for practical paths forward on sustainability issues that include reducing plastic waste, green energy, carbon reduction, green chemistry, and ingredient transparency.

For example, Dr. Johnson has traveled worldwide studying the plastic waste problem. He has personally collected and studied microplastics in the environment, from the Arctic to the Strait of Magellan to the Sahara Desert. He has been scuba diving for 50 years and has witnessed dramatic change in the health of our ocean ecosystems. He has also visited numerous recycling facilities, plastic suppliers, and component manufacturers across the globe—all of which has informed his sense of urgency about the need to address the plastic waste crisis head-on.

Dr. Chevy Humphrey serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (Griffin MSI), the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere. She has held this position since January 2021. Dr. Humphrey is a distinguished figure in the field of informal science education and has held the Chair leadership role in prestigious organizations such as the American Alliance of Museums and the Association of Science and Technology Centers.

Currently, Dr. Humphrey contributes her expertise to the boards of several esteemed institutions, including the Argonne National Laboratory, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Economic Club of Chicago, the Helios Education Foundation, and the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute. Her exceptional leadership and commitment to mentorship have been widely recognized, earning her numerous accolades, including being named a Visionary Leader by the WNBA, Forbes 50 over 50, Crain’s Chicago Business’ 2023 Notable Women in STEM list, and one of the Most Admired CEOs by the Phoenix Business Journal and the inaugural recipient of their Mentor of the Year award in 2017.

Dr. Humphrey’s academic achievements include a Doctorate in Business Administration from Grand Canyon University, along with executive education from Stanford University, The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania, and at Yale University.

Bill Peters is Managing Director of The CEO Forum Group and leads the CEO Connections division, where he develops and oversees multi platform initiatives to connect clients with CEOs and enhance their market eminence in the CEO community. He also helps determine which CEOs are appropriate to be interviewed on The CEO Forum properties.

Prior to The CEO Forum, Peters had a 35-year career in the home and hospitality furnishings industry where he was CEO twice. Throughout his whole career, Bill has specialized in developing sales and marketing programs for various markets.

A graduate of North Carolina State University with a degree in Textile Technology, Bill began his career as a traveling sales representative, selling fabric to furniture manufacturers and fabric distributors. Within four years, Bill first became a regional sales manager, then a national sales manager before holding positions as director of marketing for multiple companies. In 1996, Bill was named Vice President for Sales for F. Schumacher & Co. At the time, Schumacher was the largest home furnishing distributor in the U.S. In this position, Bill was responsible for all product sales to J.C. Penney Co. along with Jo-Ann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby Stores, and all of the major furniture manufacturers in North Carolina. In 1999, Bill was name President and CEO of Osborne & Little U.S.A. He held this position for ten years before leaving to take over Stroheim Inc. as President and CEO. In 2009, Stroheim was sold to Fabricut Inc. Bill left the company to start Browning & Chandler, a specialized distributor of fabrics and home furnishings to interior designers, hospitality specifiers, and marine fabricators.

Bill has served on numerous industry boards. Most recently he was Vice President of the Decorative Furnishings Association. In addition to his industry affiliations, Bill is a certified EMT and member of the National Ski Patrol.

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Alan J. Friedman Science Center Dialogues
12:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Grand Ballroom, McCormick Place

The Alan J. Friedman Science Center Dialogues are conducted in memory of and tribute to the founding director of the New York Hall of Science, Queens. The session is presented in the spirit of the commitment Alan had to the science-center field and the issues and interests that were reflected in his own writings and presentations over the years.

This year’s Friedman Dialogues plenary session will tackle two of the most pressing social and scientific issues of our time, with an engaging conversation between thought-leaders, researchers, and practitioners about the symbiotic relationship between mental health and planetary health. They will discuss opportunities to engage members of the public with research on both mental health and environmental issues in ways that contribute to a culture of hope and action that promotes individual, community, and planetary health.

Participants in the Dialogues include:

Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, Chief Vision and Values Scientist, The Collective for Psychiatric Neuroengineering and A. Eugene and Marie Washington Presidential Distinguished Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Departments of Neurobiology, Bioengineering, and Neurosurgery, Duke University
Siobhan Starrs, Exhibition Developer and Project Manager, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Moderator: Rose Hendricks, PhD, Research Director for Seeding Action, ASTC

Dr. Kafui Dzirasa is the A. Eugene and Marie Washington Presidential Distinguished Professor at Duke University with appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurosurgery. He completed a PhD in Neurobiology at Duke University. His research interests focus on understanding how changes in the brain produce neurological and mental illness, and his graduate work has led to several distinctions including: the Somjen Award for Most Outstanding Dissertation Thesis, the Ruth K. Broad Biomedical Research Fellowship, the UNCF·Merck Graduate Science Research Fellowship, and the Wakeman Fellowship. Kafui obtained an MD from the Duke University School of Medicine in 2009, and he completed residency training in General Psychiatry in 2016.

Kafui received the Charles Johnson Leadership Award in 2007, and he was recognized as one of Ebony magazine’s 30 Young Leaders of the Future in February 2008. He has also been awarded the International Mental Health Research Organization Rising Star Award, the Sydney Baer Prize for Schizophrenia Research, and his laboratory was featured on CBS’ 60 Minutes in 2011. In 2016, he was awarded the inaugural Duke Medical Alumni Emerging Leader Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the nation’s highest award for scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. In 2017, he was recognized as 40 under 40 in Health by the National Minority Quality Forum, and the Engineering Alumni of the Year from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He was induced into the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2019, the National Academy of Medicine in 2021, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2023.

Kafui has served as an Associate Scientific Advisor for the journal Science Translational Medicine, a member of the Congressional-mandated Next Generation Research Initiative, and on the Editorial Advisory Board for TEDMED. He currently serves on the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director.

Kafui is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and recipient of the NIH Pioneer Award. His goal is to combine his research, medical training, and community experience to improve outcomes for diverse communities suffering from Neurological and Psychiatric illness.

Siobhan Starrs is a project manager and exhibition developer at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History involved in strategic planning, development, design, execution, and maintenance of permanent and temporary exhibitions. She was the project lead for The Hall of Fossils – Deep Time major project and Deep Time Initiative. Since joining the Smithsonian in 2000, Starrs has managed diverse informal science projects including traveling exhibitions, social and behavioral science research, strategic science communications, and audience research. She currently leads exhibition teams providing creative direction and ensuring that projects engage the public with the natural role and their place in it. She collaborates with interdisciplinary colleagues across the Smithsonian and from external organizations to incubate strong partnerships and develop shared best practices in exhibition development. Starrs has degrees from Virginia Tech and The George Washington University.

Dr. Rose Hendricks is the Seeding Action Research Director at the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC). In this role, she leads the design and implementation of Seeding Action, an initiative led by ASTC to support science centers and museums in their planetary health public engagement work. Prior to this role, she led the development of the Science Society Engagement Network, which connects scientific associations in their efforts to equip scientists to communicate with policymakers and public audiences. She has also conducted research with the FrameWorks Institute, studying approaches for communicating about social and scientific issues. Rose earned a PhD in Cognitive Science from UC San Diego.

Monday, September 30, 2024

Monday Keynote Session
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Grand Ballroom, McCormick Place

The final plenary of ASTC 2024 will include inspiring keynote remarks from visionary artist, futurist, and explorer Dr. Sian Proctor.

The session will also feature the presentation of ASTC’s 2024 Roy L. Shafer Leading Edge Awards.

Dr. Sian Proctor is a visionary artist, futurist, and explorer who made history as the first African-American woman to pilot a spacecraft on SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission.

As a geoscientist and space artist, she blends scientific expertise with the profound perspective gained from viewing Earth from orbit, creating artwork that captures our planet’s beauty and fragility.

Through her company Space2inspire, Dr. Proctor advocates for diversity in space and STEM fields while inspiring global audiences to view Earth and humanity’s future through an inclusive, cosmic lens.