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Gotwals named new associate director of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

CHAPEL HILL -- Robert R. Gotwals Jr., a science educator with nearly two decades of professional experience, is the new associate director of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.

Gotwals comes to UNC from the Shodor Education Foundation Inc. in Durham, where he served as a computational science educator. The foundation is a non-profit research and education organization whose mission is the advancement of science and math education, specifically through the use of modeling and simulation technologies.

Gotwals also has served as a chemistry teacher for the New York State School for the Deaf and for Blair High School Magnet Program in Silver Spring, Md.; a science instructor for Gallaudet University; and an education and training specialist for the North Carolina Supercomputing Center. He received his bachelor of science degree in chemistry from East Carolina University and his master of science degree in education from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Dr. Holden Thorp, planetarium director, said Gotwals has distinguished himself as a science educator by applying his technological expertise and understanding of children to the advancement of science outreach.

"Bob brings to his new position an exceptional track record in his work of connecting young minds to cutting-edge science. He is enthusiastic, has a detailed understanding of how emerging sciences are going to influence the future of North Carolina and knows what works – and what doesn’t work – in engaging young people in the excitement of scientific discovery.

"He is already making a difference in our plans for the future of the Morehead." The planetarium, which officially opened in 1949, was the first in the world to be built on a college campus and draws tens of thousands of students from across the state each year.

Now called the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, the institution’s proposals for the future include a renovation of the planetarium’s Star Theater that will incorporate leading-edge digital and video technology; a multimedia space designed for scientific presentations; a hands-on children’s learning space featuring collaborative activities; outreach initiatives that will include Destiny, the university’s privately funded 40-foot-long traveling science laboratory; and exhibit space that highlights the work of leading UNC researchers.

"Scientific research needs to get out of the laboratory and into the classroom very quickly," said Gotwals. "We hope to be one of the forces that helps that happen. Our state’s economic base is moving more toward science-based industries. Making sure that we interest children in the promise of science is a huge investment in our state’s own economic preservation."

Dr. Lee Shapiro, who formerly served as associate director, left UNC to accept a position as director of education and public outreach for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Va.

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Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/staff/gotwals_robert.jpg

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center contact: Carrie Anne Spinelli, (919) 962-1236