2024 Rhodes Lecture to feature Bill Nye, 'The Science Guy'

Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University has named Bill Nye as the 2024 John J. Rhodes Chair.

Nye is an American science educator, engineer, comedian, television presenter, author and inventor known as Bill Nye, "The Science Guy.”

As Rhodes Chair, Nye will deliver this year’s Rhodes Lecture, presented by Barrett Honors College. The event, titled “Climate Change & You," is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 12, at the Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway.

In his keynote, Nye will focus on the effects of climate change. Immediately following his talk, Nye will be joined onstage by ASU President's Professor and Director of the Center for Global Health Amber Wutich and Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis for a moderated discussion centered on climate change and Arizona water rights, moderated by Barrett Honors College Dean Tara Williams.

Event tickets are free but a handling fee may apply. Get tickets here.

Nye's mission is to foster a scientifically literate society and help people understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work.

Perhaps best known as "Bill Nye, The Science Guy" from his show of the same name, Nye’s wit and enthusiasm has garnered him 18 Emmy Awards. He is also an author and frequent speaker on topics of global importance, including climate change, evolution, population, space exploration and STEM education.

In 2016, Netflix announced that Nye would appear in a new series, "Bill Nye Saves the World," which premiered on April 21, 2017. Its third and final season was released on May 11, 2018.

His next series, "The End is Nye," was ordered by Peacock in March 2021.

Teaming with Seth MacFarlane and Brannon Braga, the series, which premiered on Aug. 25, 2022, has Nye exploring natural and unnatural disasters, explaining them scientifically to detail surviving, mitigating and preventing them.

Nye was the subject of the documentary film "Bill Nye: Science Guy," a behind-the-scenes portrait that follows him as he takes off his “Science Guy” lab coat and takes on those who would deny climate change, evolution and a science-based worldview.

2024 Rhodes Lecture featuring Bill Nye, "The Science Guy"

"An Evening with Bill Nye"

7:30–8:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 12

Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway

Free tickets are available here. 

His 2014 debate with a creationist who believes the Earth is only 6,000 years old has been viewed nearly 6.5 million times on YouTube. After that experience, Nye wrote his first book for a general audience, "Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation," which went on to become a New York Times' bestseller.

Nye is also the author of seven children’s books, including his most recent bestselling fiction series, "Jack and the Geniuses."

Nye also serves as CEO of The Planetary Society, the world’s largest space interest group.

As an inventor, he holds a number of unusual patents, including an improved toe shoe for ballerinas, a device to help people learn to throw a baseball better, a magnifier made of water and an abacus that does arithmetic like a computer with only binary numbers.

Nye graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Cornell University and returned there as a visiting professor from 2001–2005.

In 2010, Nye joined the ranks of his astronomy professor Carl Sagan when he was elected the American Humanist Association’s “Humanist of the Year.”

He has discussed science matters on news and television programs such as "ABC World News," "NBC Nightly News," CNN, "Good Morning America," MSNBC, "TODAY," "CBS This Morning" and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."