Science Chicago: Life's a Lab is about helping kids of all ages unleash their inner scientist. We invite Chicagoans to discover and explore the inspiring world of science in our community.
-David Mosena
President and CEO, Museum of Science and Industry
For twelve months, beginning in September 2008, the city of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs will band together to execute an unparalleled program that will provide our community with unique opportunities to learn, create and explore in the electrifying world of science.
The world’s largest science celebration, Science Chicago: Life’s a Lab will awaken the inner scientist in all of us by allowing kids of all ages to explore the wonders of our region’s scientific resources. An ambitious, collaborative, year-long initiative, Science Chicago brings together more than 140 of the area’s leading academic, scientific, corporate and non-profit institutions to host thousands of programs that provide hands-on learning; spur thoughtful debate; and build enthusiasm for the pursuit of cutting-edge science. Science Chicago aims to help establish the critical value of science and math education at a time when our competitive advantage is at risk. Science Chicago will illustrate that science isn’t just what’s learned in a classroom or lab--it happens all around us and has real impact on our daily lives.
Our Vision
To awaken Chicagoans to the wonders of our region’s scientific resources and the importance of science to our future.
Our Mission
To create a strategic framework connecting people, organizations, and opportunities to Chicago’s wealth of science and technology resources.
Our Goals
Science Chicago will accomplish this mission by creating an organizational and programmatic framework to achieve five overarching goals:
- Engage young people in the fun, excitement and awe of science and inspire them to consider careers in science and technology fields.
- Raise awareness of the importance of science in everyday life in the minds of students, their parents and teachers—and thereby, the public at large.
- Enlighten Chicagoans to the region’s vast science and technology assets.
- Encourage partnership and collaboration between and among the science and technology community and our target audience.
- Raise Chicago’s profile as a national leader in science and technology, and promote the message that our city and region can and will continue to prosper because we are committed to supporting science and technology.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this initiative is the unprecedented magnitude of reach that its programming will have. From classrooms to boardrooms, from laboratories to public parks, Science Chicago will bring learning to a whole new level. Behind-the-scenes tours, classroom activities, outdoor experiments, family outings, conversations with leading researchers, cultural activities and neighborhood festivals…Science Chicago will offer countless ways for the Chicagoland region to truly participate in the wonderment of science.
Science Chicago reminds the public that science matters in everyday life. That is why leading scientists, educators, and civic leaders are supporting this effort by creating programs that show how science works and why it is so important.
-Jonathan Fanton
President, MacArthur Foundation
Science Chicago Board of Advisors
Walter Massey (Co-Chair)
President-Emeritus - Morehouse College
Arthur Sussman (Co-Chair)
Vice President - MacArthur Foundation
David Mosena (Vice-Chair)
President and CEO - Museum of Science and Industry
Frank Beal
Executive Director - Chicago Metropolis 2020
Michael Birck
Chairman of the Board of Directors - Tellabs, Inc.
Alison Chung
President - TeamWerks, Inc.
Maggie Daley
Chair - After School Matters
Mary A. Dempsey
Commissioner - Chicago Public Library
Michael DeSantiago
President - Primera Engineers, Ltd.
Arne Duncan
Chief Executive Officer - Chicago Public Schools
Carol Forsyte
Corporate Vice President, Law - Motorola, Inc.
David Greene
Vice President for Strategic Initiatives - The University of Chicago
Donald R. Hopkins (M.D., M.P.H.)
Vice President for Health Programs - The Carter Center
Tawa Jogunosimi
Assistant to the Mayor for Education - City of Chicago
Sadhu Johnston
Chief Environmental Officer - City of Chicago
Paul H. Knappenberger (Ph.D.)
President - Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Dr. Christopher A. Koch
State Superintendent - Illinois State Board of Education
Michael Lach
Officer, Department of High School Teaching and Learning, Office of High Schools
and High School Programs - Chicago Public Schools
Donna LaPietra
Vice President - Kurtis Productions
Terry Mazany
President and CEO - The Chicago Community Trust
Meg McDonald
Executive Director, Office for Research Planning, Finance and Communications -
Northwestern University
Glenn "Max" McGee
President - Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
John Nichols
The Pritzker Organization
Chaka Patterson
Vice President, Investor Relations - Exelon Corporation
Elspeth Revere
Vice President, General Program - MacArthur Foundation
Roche Schulfer
Executive Director - Goodman Theatre
Nancy Searle
Searle Consultant - Chicago Community Trust
Brian Spear (Ph.D.)
Director, Scientific Affairs - Abbot Laboratories
John J. Tracy (Ph.D.)
Sr. Vice President, Engineering, Operations and Technology - The Boeing Company
Shawn VanDerziel
Vice President of Human Resources, IT and Education - The Field Museum
SCIENCE CHICAGO SCIENCE COUNCIL
Leon M. Lederman (Ph.D., Chair)
Nobel Laureate, Pritzker Professor of Science at Illinois Institute of Technology,
Resident Scholar-IMSA; Museum of Science and Industry Trustee -
Nobel Laureate Chair of Science Chicago Science Council
James Bower (Ph.D.)
Professor of Radiology, Professor of Biology, Chairman of the Board and CEO,
Numedeon Inc. (www.whyville.net) - University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio
Rex Chisholm (Ph.D.)
Dean of Research, Feinberg School of Medicine - Northwestern University
Holly Falk-Krzesinski (Ph.D.)
Director of the Office for Research Development; Feinberg School of Medicine,
Director, Office of Research Team Support for the Clinical and Translational
Sciences Institute - Northwestern University
Robert Fefferman (Ph.D.)
Dean, Physical Sciences Division - University of Chicago
Lucy Fortson (Ph.D.)
Vice President for Research - Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Lawrence R. Heaney (Ph.D.)
Sr. Curator; Scientist/Biologist - The Field Museum
Edward (Rocky) Kolb (Ph.D.)
Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics;
Chair of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago,
as well as a member of the Enrico Fermi Institute, and the Kavli Institute for
Cosmological Physics. - The University of Chicago
James Madara (M.D.)
CEO, University of Chicago Medical Center, Dean, Biological Sciences Division -
The University of Chicago
Chad Mirkin (Ph.D.)
George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Materials Science
and Engineering, Professor of Medicine, and Director of the NU International Institute
for Nanotechnology (IIN) - Northwestern University
Hassan Nagib (Ph.D.)
John T. Rettaliata Distinguished Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering -
Illinois Institute of Technology
Carla Pugh (M.D., Ph.D.)
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Associate Director of Center for Advanced Surgical
Education, Feinberg School of Medicine - Northwestern University
Funmi Olopade (M.D.)
Director, Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program; Director, Center for Clinical Cancer
Genetics; Presenter at the Museum of Science and Industry Genetics Symposium -
The University of Chicago
Seth Shostak (Ph.D.)
Senior Astronomer - SETI Institute
Patricia Ward (Ph.D.)
Director of Science and Technology - Museum of Science and Industry
Rabiah M. Mayas (Ph.D.)
Science Director - Science Chicago
Our Funders
The Museum of Science and Industry convenes Science Chicago with the generous support of the following donors:
