Celebrate our Scientist Rockstars!

Rockstars of Science celebrates leading scientists

The principle behind a science festival is that we celebrate the things that we enjoy and benefit from, such as films, sports, and music. But the nature of the scientific enterprise does not lend itself to recognizing our best and brightest scientists. So who are the scientist rockstars? You can probably name four or five famous musicians and a handful of Hollywood actors. But how many famous scientists can you name?

The Rock Stars of Science™ campaign aims to celebrate living scientists by showing how “cool” science is. The project is a collaboration between several famous musicians and scientists. The idea is to pair up musicians and scientists to break the stereotype of science as nerdy and dull.

The first program, started 2009, met with resounding success. Featured stars included Sheryl Crow, Debbie Harry and Joe Perry. Created and funded by menswear brand Geoffrey Beene’s philanthropic arm, the Rockstars are featured in GQ magazine’s “Men of the Year” issue. This year’s Rockstars will be announced next week. To learn more about the program, here’s an article by Chris Mooney on the Discover blog.

So how about here in the Triangle? Will any of our scientists be recognized? Who are our scientist rockstars?