Distinguished Lecturer, Mike Bennett

Mike Bennett has spent most of his career helping people understand, appreciate, and most of all enjoy astronomy. Mike began his career at Morrison Planetarium in San Francisco and over the years has given literally thousands of planetarium shows, presentations, talks, classroom visits, and lectures on astronomy and space science. He has worked with students of all ages, teachers, amateur astronomers, the general public, and eclipse-chasers. As a teacher and lecturer Mike is known for his clarity, attention to the knowledge level of the audience, and good humor.

He is currently Executive Director of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and also serves as head of education and public outreach for SOFIA, NASA's newest and largest airborne observatory. A couple of evenings a week, Mike teaches introductory astronomy courses at De Anza College in Cupertino, California. He earned an MA in science education from San Francisco State University. Mike lives with his wife Leslie and Siamese cat Miss Mocha in Cupertino. When not doing astronomy education, Mike spends as much time as possible aboard his sailboat "Getaway" on San Francisco Bay.

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