About Dr. Steve
Dr. Steven H. Williams earned a M.A. in Physics from Cornell, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in (Planetary) Geology from Arizona State. He has held several positions in academe, including a two-year stint at NASA Ames Research Center, and the University of North Dakota, where he helped set up an on-line M.S. program in Space Studies (one of the first such distance learning programs). He served in a variety of roles at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Education division, including department chair, education program development, education event creation and management, and volunteer training and management. NASM accomplishments of particular note include the creation of two popular educational Discovery Stations, creation and managing educational programming for the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the 60th anniversary of the dawn of the Space Age, and playing a significant role in the creation what has become NASM’s largest annual event, the “Air and Scare” Halloween Family Day. Steve also supported several trips in the Smithsonian Journeys program, including being co-Subject Matter Expert on their 2017 Total Solar Eclipse Journey, and being the lead SME for one of their Iceland Northern Lights Journeys.
Dr. Williams also served a two-year detail assignment at NASA HQ, in the Planetary Science Division, providing education/outreach support for the 2012 Transit of Venus; the launches of GRAIL, Curiosity, LADEE, and MAVEN; the Curiosity landing; and the Year of the Solar System program. He also developed a database that became the core of the NASA education app, SPACE365.