Journalists & Commentators Codexery

Bill Nye

Science educator and former engineer turned TV host.

Last updated

Bill Nye

via Wikipedia: Bill Nye · see source

Born on November 27, 1955, in Washington, D.C., William Sanford Nye is a former mechanical engineer who became an American science communicator and television presenter.[1][2] The science education program Bill Nye the Science Guy, which aired from 1993 to 1998, is the primary source of his fame as a host and pop-culture science educator.[3]

Life and work

The show ran from 1993 to 1998 in national TV syndication and was nominated for 23 Emmy Awards, winning 19.[4] In 1986, Nye departed Boeing to chase a comedy career, contributing as a writer and performer to the local sketch show Almost Live!.[3] Nye proposed the children's TV series Bill Nye the Science Guy to Seattle's public television station KCTS-TV, and the pitch was accepted.[4] Nye took on the role of CEO for The Planetary Society, continuing his science advocacy.[5]

The documentary Bill Nye: Science Guy, focusing on his life and science advocacy, had its premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2017.[5]

What the cited sources add

The oral history also recorded that Nye volunteered at the Pacific Science Center on weekends as a "Science Explainer."[6] A 2003 Current.org article described how production of The Eyes of Nye was delayed by shifting creative concepts and disputes over money with KCTS.[7] A 2001 Cornell Chronicle article stated that Nye was appointed a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 Professor at Cornell University beginning July 1.[8] The same 1994 article stated that Nye received a local Emmy for a science segment on Almost Live! and trademarked the name "Bill Nye the Science Guy" in the same year.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Bill Nye" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "2015 Commencement Speaker: William Sanford Nye", Rutgers University (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Bill Nye" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schwartz, "Firebrand for Science, and Big Man on Campus", The New York Times, June 17, 2013; "Bill Nye". Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Volume 64. September 1, 2005. Gale. Retrieved November 4, 2011.; "Jacqueline Jenkins-Nye, 79, World War II code breaker", Baltimore Sun, 2000-04-03; Robledo, "Bill Nye married: 'The Science Guy' weds journalist Liza Mundy", USA TODAY, 2022-06-22; "What My Father Taught Me: Bill Nye", Popular Mechanics, May 30, 2013; "A Whale-Oiled Machine", 99% Invisible, March 14, 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Bill Nye" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eals, "Seattle's 'Almost Live!' cast: Where are they now", The Seattle Times, 2024-08-24 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Bill Nye" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Goldberg, "Pondering Fire, Infinity and a Head of Lettuce (Cool!)", The New York Times, April 9, 1997 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Bill Nye" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The March for Science was a moment made for Bill Nye", The Washington Post, April 23, 2017; Webster, "Review: 'Bill Nye: Science Guy,' a Portrait of a Fighter for Facts", The New York Times, October 26, 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. "An Oral History of 'Almost Live'", Seattle Metropolitan, May 17, 2013. facts only, no text reused. seattlemet.com
  7. "Bill Nye comeback: hope and dismay in Seattle", Current.org, May 13, 2003. facts only, no text reused. current.org
  8. "Janet Reno and Bill Nye appointed CU Rhodes Class of '56 Professors", Cornell Chronicle, June 19, 2001. facts only, no text reused. news.cornell.edu
  9. Boss, "The Bill Nye Effect", The Seattle Times, December 18, 1994. facts only, no text reused. archive.seattletimes.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Bill Nye (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Journalists & Commentators

Chris AnyanwuDaniel SchneidermannDavid BrinkleyWolf BlitzerNikole Hannah-JonesLesley StahlAnne GarrelsPaul KlebnikovAndrea MitchellLynsey AddarioLisa LingPaula Zahn

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →