George Whitesides '96: Inspiring kids to look at the stars

Every once in a while, a Princeton alumnus has the chance to leave a major impact in the world. George Whitesides graduated from the University in 1996 and already he has helped found a worldwide program that is inspiring kids to reach for the stars, literally.

In 2001 Whitesides helped start an organization called Permission to Dream. The program is designed to inspire children throughout the world to study space-related science and technology.

Each year, PTD donates telescopes to various groups to help them develop programs to teach children about astronomy. The program also develops "missions" for each participating institution through which students can record observations and compare them with local and global teammates.

Whitesides emphasized that the program does not develop a curriculum for study, but rather tries to engender a sense of inspiration in the stars.

"The supreme goal is to get kids inspired about space, but even more broadly inspired about their future," Whitesides said.

"I think space is a tremendous way to get kids inspired. Kids just totally hook into the possibility of space — the opportunities, the magnitude, the scale. It's more like lighting a fire about space science and technology and the future rather than pursuing a detailed curriculum."

At first glance, Whitesides' Princeton career might be a little surprising. He was neither an astrophysics major nor a hard science concentrator. Instead, Whitesides was a Wilson School major who wrote his senior thesis on Algeria in U.S. foreign policy.

However, Princeton did help plant a seed in Whitesides' mind about space. In his junior year, he took professor Jerry Grey's course in space science and technology.

Whitesides recalled, "[Grey] is a very respected guy in the space community, and he gave an amazing class — an overview of what's going on in space, with the chance to think up a creative space project at the end . . . That was definitely an influence as well."

But Whitesides explained that Princeton's influence on his career and vision did not end with a single classroom experience. He noted that the overall atmosphere provided the necessary perspective in which to succeed, especially in the global community.

"Princeton certainly emphasized a sense of service," Whitesides added. "It also expanded my life in terms of involving me in what's going on in the rest of the world."

After graduating, Whitesides used his Fulbright Scholarship to study women's rights issues in Tunisia. It was there — looking at the night sky — that he realized his life's work.

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"I came to the realization during that year that I wanted to be involved in space in some way," Whitesides said. "I don't know if it was just looking up at the night sky or just thinking about what I really wanted to do."

As Whitesides started delving into the world of space study, he worked with an organization called the Space Frontier Foundation. They approached him about starting up an educational component to their existing program to enhance public support and awareness of space exploration.

In the summer of 2001, Whitesides launched the program as part of a worldwide effort to draw interest in space among younger generations.

And one of the most important characteristics about PTD is its emphasis on the worldwide involvement in the learning process. The program has distributed 37 telescopes around the world to 15 different countries in six different continents.

"We really thought there was a need for this abroad," Whitesides said. "There are not a lot of opportunities for kids to get exposed to some of this stuff, especially in the developing world. Some people say the developing world has more important things to be concerned with, but at the same time I think everybody has the right be exposed to different ideas and get the sense of inspiration."

In an effort to expand the program, Whitesides recently traveled to Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa where he helped set up several program branches. However, he said that much of the program's expansion can be attributed to remote locations reading about the program and signing up on their own accord.

Even though Whitesides finds himself involved in the fund-raising and administrative aspects of the business, working with children remains the most rewarding part of PTD, he said.

"I still love when we do an event with schools and the kids look up at the night sky with a telescope. You get to see the real impact on kids," Whitesides said. "It's not an exaggeration to say they have a physical connection."

But nearly a year after the Columbia space shuttle disaster, the world remains a changed place regarding public desire for continued space exploration. Whitesides is optimistic that policy makers and politicians will try to find a new mission whether it be traveling to Mars, developing a defense against asteroids or another type of space exploration.

However, he noted, if the spirit of exploration and inspiration starts to erode, that's where PTD steps in.

"What we try to do at Permission to Dream is try to much earlier keep the inspiration in space alive during a time when the lack of a program means that maybe people are a little less excited," Whitesides said.

"If we can keep that sense of exploration, then eventually when we decide to do something else, we can do it as a planet and not just as a country."