The 2019 Hertz Summer Workshop 

"Engaging the World"

Advances in science and technology benefit society in many ways, but reaping those benefits requires an informed and engaged public. How can we as scientists best share our work with the nation and the world? Whether we are providing counsel on complex issues, promoting understanding and adoption of new technologies, or inspiring the next generation of scientists and entrepreneurs, we greatly increase our impact by engaging with society.

Join the Hertz community of alumni and in-school Fellows, award-winning scientists, thought leaders, and distinguished guests for a long weekend of discussion, learning, interaction, and networking, centered on the theme of "Engaging the World." The workshop is an excellent opportunity to connect with new collaborators, find mentors and mentees, and build lasting relationships with leaders across the spectrum of science and technology.

Current Speakers to Date:

Frances Arnold

2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry

Director of the Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center at Caltech

Frances Arnold is the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2018). She is the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry and the Director of the Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center at the California Institute of Technology, where she has been on the faculty since 1986. At Caltech, Arnold pioneered methods of directed protein evolution used to make proteins for applications in alternative energy, chemicals, and medicine. Her methods are used throughout the world to tailor proteins for consumer products, gene sequencing, clinical diagnostics, neuroscience, pharmaceuticals, textiles, agriculture and more. Arnold was the first woman to receive the Charles Stark Draper Prize of the National Academy of Engineering (2011), the Millennium Technology Prize (2016) and election to all three US National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering. She received the US National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Obama in 2013 and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and is an international fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering.

John W. Mellor

Professor Emeritus, Cornell University

John Mellor is currently Professor Emeritus, Cornell University and President of John Mellor Associates, Inc. a policy consulting firm. Prior to that he was founding Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Chief Economist of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID/Washington,) and Vice-President of Abt Associates. At Cornell University he is now Professor Emeritus, and was Professor of Agricultural Economics, Economics, and Asian Studies, Director of the Comparative Economics Program and Associate Director and Acting Director of the Center for International Studies. He received degrees from Cornell University and Oxford University. He was the recipient of the Wihuri Prize (Finland) and the Presidential Award (The Reagan White House, USA) for efforts to alleviate hunger in the World and is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Agricultural Economics Association. He is the recipient of numerous awards for the quality of his research, the author and co-author of ten books, and hundreds of journal articles and conference papers (largely on economic and agricultural development.)

Hertz Fellow

Associate Professor of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder

Cindy Regal is an Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a fellow of JILA, a joint institute between the University of Colorado and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Her research focuses on laboratory experiments in quantum physics - in which she explores diverse physical systems such as acoustical vibrations and trapped atoms as hosts of controlled quantum excitations. She is interested in building sets of interacting quantum particles to explore fundamental physics and measurement science, and for their potential as components of quantum networks or computers. Regal received her PhD as a Hertz Fellow at the University of Colorado in 2006, and her BA in Physics in Wisconsin in 2001. She was awarded a Millikan Postdoctoral Fellowship at Caltech in 2007, and started on the faculty of the University of Colorado in 2010. She is the recipient of a Packard Fellowship, a Presidential Early Career Award, and was recently an Alexander Cruickshank lecturer at the Gordon Research Conference on Quantum Sciences.

Executive Director, National Center for Science Education

As executive director, Reid works to implement the organization's mission to ensure that what is taught in science classrooms and beyond is accurate and consistent with the best current understanding of the scientific community. Climate change and evolution are challenging subjects to teach, especially in communities where distrust or rejection of these areas of science is widespread. NCSE works directly with teachers to provide them with the skills and confidence they need to cover these topics effectively, supports community members to lead fun, engaging science activities, and monitors legislative threats to science education. Prior to NCSE, Reid was director of the American Academy of Microbiology, served as a Senior Program Officer at the NRC's Board on Life Sciences, and for 15 years worked as a research biologist at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, where she was responsible for sequencing the 1918 flu virus.

Atmospheric Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Ben Santer is an atmospheric scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He studies natural and human “fingerprints” in observed climate records. His early research contributed to the historic 1995 conclusion of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate”. He served as lead author of a key chapter of that report. Since 1995, Ben has identified human fingerprints in atmospheric temperature and water vapor, ocean heat content, sea surface temperature in hurricane formation regions, and many other climate variables. Ben holds a doctorate in Climatology from the University of East Anglia, England. After completing his Ph.D. in 1987, he spent five years at the Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology in Germany, where he worked on developing and applying climate fingerprint methods. Ben joined Lawrence Livermore in 1992. Ben has received a number of awards for his research. These include a MacArthur Fellowship (1998) and membership in the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2011). The most significant awards are the friendships he has made during his career. In addition to his research, he cares deeply about the communication of climate science to a wide range of audiences. He writes for the Scientific American blog and has appeared on “Late Night with Seth Meyers”. Together with Chip Duncan and Dr. Hernando Garzon, Ben is a member of “The Three Tenors of Climate Change”. The Tenors are devoted to the task of improving public understanding of the science and impacts of human-caused climate change. In his spare time, Ben is an avid rock-climber and mountaineer.

Director,  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

Steve Walker became DARPA’s director in November 2017. He served as the deputy director of the agency from October 2012 to December 2016, and as acting director from January 2017 through October 2017. Prior to his return to DARPA in 2012, he served as deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Science, Technology and Engineering, responsible for developing the technology investment strategy for the Air Force's annual $2 billion science and technology program and for providing functional management of more than 14,000 military and civilian scientists and engineers. He has more than 30 years of experience in the civil service. Steve also previously served in DARPA's Tactical Technology Office as a program manager, deputy director, and director. Steve is a member of the Senior Executive Service and a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; he received the AIAA Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in Aeronautical Management in 2014. He has also been awarded the Presidential Rank Award, the Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service medal, and the DoD Exceptional, Meritorious, and Distinguished Civilian Service medals. He holds a Ph.D. and B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Dayton.