As part of the Frontiers in Science Lecture Series, Charles Simonyi, the fifth space tourist and second Hungarian in space, will share his experiences at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, in Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium. This lecture is free and open to the public.
His trip to the International Space Station in April 2007 required Simonyi, a trained pilot in multiengine aircraft, to undergo six months of training for his 13 days, 18 hours and 59 minutes in space. His participation in the mission furthered three personal objectives: to advance civilian space flight, assist in space station research and involve the world's youth in the science of space travel.
Born in Budapest, Hungary, Simonyi moved to the United States in 1968 and earned his bachelor's degree in engineering and mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley and his doctorate in computer science from Stanford. He received an honorary doctorate in 2001 from the University of Pecs in Hungary.
He has worked for Xerox PARC and Microsoft, and in 2002 he founded Bellevue, Wash.-based Intentional Software Corp., for which he is president and CEO. The firm focuses on improving the way organizations write software.
Former university trustee and alumna Jeanette Grasselli Brown and her husband, Glenn R. Brown, created the Frontiers in Science lecture series in 1991 to promote understanding of science and communication between scientists and non-scientists.
-- From staff reports
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