Astronaut Buzz Aldrin To Deliver Rockefeller Lecture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — On July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. On April 30, he will walk into the University of Arkansas Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development to deliver the Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture. Although Aldrin’s presentation is free and open to the public, seating is limited and a ticket is required for admission.

Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made history and were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but the Gemini and Apollo astronaut doesn’t live in the past. He is a futurist and advocate of privatization, space tourism and reusable rockets. He has been called "the man who wants to send you into space" and the "Father of Space Tourism."

"We are honored to participate in bringing Buzz Aldrin to the University of Arkansas," said Otto Loewer, dean of the College of Engineering. "He is a man of great accomplishments and will bring a unique vision to our community."

Established in 1972, the Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lectures bring the foremost scholars and personages to the University of Arkansas to engage in dialogues and communicate ideas and ideals. In addition to the University Distinguished Lectures Committee, the College of Engineering, the Sam M. Walton College of Business, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for University Advancement and industrial engineering alumnus Buck Johns were instrumental in bringing Aldrin to the Fayetteville campus.

"The Rockefeller lecture is a wonderful opportunity for our students and faculty to hear from an American legend first-hand," said Doyle A. Williams, dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business. "We are very excited about this event."

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin graduated with honors from West Point and studied under rocket developer Robert Goddard. He flew 66 missions in the Korean Conflict and returned to earn a Ph.D. in astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Selected by NASA in 1963 as one of the early astronauts, he set a record for extra-vehicular activity on the Gemini 12 flight in 1966 and logged 290 hours of flying time in space. When Aldrin and Armstrong made their historic moon walk during the Apollo 11 mission, they became the first two humans to set foot on another world. Their accomplishment was witnessed by the largest worldwide television audience in history.

Aldrin was recently appointed by President Bush to head the federal Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, which focuses on economic and national security issues. His nonprofit ShareSpace Foundation is developing a study on the impact of space tourism on long-range space exploration and his think-tank, Starcraft Boosters, is working on rocket designs.

Aldrin will hold an informal discussion with students from the College of Engineering and the Sam M. Walton College of Business at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, in the Bell Engineering Center. Admission is free, but students must have a ticket and current student I.D. Engineering students can obtain a ticket in room 3189 in the Bell Engineering Center and business student tickets are available in room 343 in the Walton College of Business.

The Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture will begin at 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development on the University of Arkansas campus. Although the lecture is free and open to the public, seating is limited and a ticket is required. Tickets are available at the Information Desk in the Arkansas Union. For questions on ticket availability, call 575-2304.

A map and written directions to the Reynolds Center are available online at: http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/rced/mapdir.htm. Additional information about Buzz Aldrin and high-quality images are available on his official website at: www.buzzaldrin.com/.