1997-99 Fellows    1994-96 Fellows    1991-93 Fellows    1988-90 Fellows

Rosamond Wolff Purcell
February and May, 1999



Photographer Rosamond Purcell creates beautiful, haunting art from the objects she uncovers in the collections and back rooms of natural history and medical museums. Rosamond's photographs have been extensively published, including two books created in collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winner Stephen Jay Gould. Rosamond is also the author of the 1997 book Special Cases: Natural Anomalies and Historical Monsters, based on an exhibition she created for the Getty Center in 1994. While at the Exploratorium, Rosamond provided guidance for the development of the 2000 temporary exhibition Revealing Bodies.

Fred Wilson
March and June, 1999



A conceptual artist from New York City, Fred designs installations that examine the language and practice of museums, and what they tell us about ourselves. Local collaborations include projects with the de Young Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the University of California San Francisco. His Fellowship was the first part of a longer association leading to an arts residency for our 2002 Seeing project.

Dennis Purcell
May 1999, Summer 1999



As Principal Engineer at ZDNet, one of the largest informational sites on the World Wide Web, Dennis analyzes visitor traffic and advises business development and sales teams. In the mid-1960s, Dennis was a photographer for the Army in Panama and an assistant to Ansel Adams in San Francisco and Carmel. He is the co-inventor of a pinhole-based architectural model camera and developer of a turtle-graphics drawing program. Dennis helped analyze the Exploratorium's Web traffic and plan for the growth of our Web-based programming. He also served as an advisor for the Exploratorium's Seeing project.

K.C. Cole
June and July, 1999



K. C. Cole, a science writer at the Los Angeles Times, is author of the best-selling book The Universe and the Teacup and the re-released book First You Build a Cloud. She was awarded the 1995 American Institute of Physics Award for Best Science Writing. A longtime friend of the Exploratorium, K. C. worked with its founder, Frank Oppenheimer, in the 1970s. She advised exhibit-development teams for our Seeing and Matter/World projects, and helped advise the media and editorial staff in developing museum content and programming for the Exploratorium's Web site.

George Hein
February and March, 1999



Professor in the Graduate School of Arts & Social Sciences at Lesley College and co-director of the Program Evaluation and Research Group, George has conducted extensive research on learning in museums. He has a doctorate in chemistry, has developed science curriculum, and has been active in school reform efforts. Associated with the Exploratorium for many years, George is an advisor for Institute for Inquiry programs and an evaluator for the 'Traits of Life' project.

Jan Hawkins
December 1998



The late Jan Hawkins was the director of the Center for Children and Technology at the Educational Development Center (EDC) in New York City. The EDC's innovative projects provide highly diverse youth with access to media technology. Jan's experience in effective learning assessment was invaluable to the Exploratorium's Center for Teaching and Learning projects, as well as visitor research/evaluation efforts.

Lewis Hyde
June 1998
January and February, 1999



Lewis is a professor of sociology and comparative literature at Harvard and Kenyon Colleges, and a MacArthur Fellow. He is the author of 'The Gift', which explores different cultural variations on the tradition of gift giving, and 'Trickster Makes This World', a comprehensive study of the trickster's role in a variety of cultures, myths, and time periods. His deep interest and experience in interdisciplinary investigations focusing on cultural comparisons helped in developing new biology exhibits, and our 'Seeing' and 'Matter/World' exhibitions, as well as inquiry-based education programs.

Bob Tinker
January, February, and July, 1998



Several years ago, Bob formed a new educational institution, the Concord Consortium, which receives grants for educational projects that involve curriculum, networking with schools, and other creative educational media endeavors. His experience was useful in the development of our Learning Studio, and he contributed insights into meaningful uses of media in our informal public environment. He also assisted in the planning of the Center for Media and Communication Planning charette. His week in July followed up on some of the ideas launched in this meeting, which were then formed into a collaborative NSF proposal between the Concord Consortium and Exploratorium. Bob was formerly director of TERC, a math and science education research group.

Richard Gregory
September and October, 1998



Longtime friend of and resource for the Exploratorium, Richard is a world-renowned perception psychologist and author of many books including 'Eye and Brain' and 'The Oxford Companion to the Mind'. He is also a professor at the University of Bristol. Richard was a resource in several exhibit and program areas, and met extensively with the 'Seeing' exhibit team. He is very enthusiastic about several areas of science and education, and, inspired by the Exploratorium, he started the Exploratory science center in Bristol, England.

Jonathan Schooler
April 1998



Jonathan is associate professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, and research scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center. Memory is his main work focus, but he also has strong interests in many different areas of cognition, such as decision making, consciousness, language, and learning. Part of his fellowship was spent exploring the kinds of learning that occur at the Exploratorium and ways that we can maximize the museum's unique learning environment. His weekly brown bag lunches for the staff covered topics from creativity to verbal interference in memory. His perspectives were of relevance and interest in our refocusing and education projects, and our Explainer program.

Joe Cusumano
July and August, 1997



Professor of engineering in nonlinear/complexity interactions at the University of Pennsylvania, Joe is interested in the humanistic aspect of engineering, and has created a center for art and technology at his university. He worked on exhibit prototypes in complexity with two of the graduate students he brought with him. The prototypes explored how research processes can be effectively presented in a public learning institution such as the Exploratorium.

Brigitte Zana
April 1997



Professor of teacher education at the University of Paris, Brigitte helped plan the wonderful children's exhibit area, le Cite des Enfants, at la Villette, the French National Museum in Paris. Part of that work involved research on children and families who used the exhibits. She currently teaches elementary school teachers, and has a long-term interest in furthering ways to use science exhibits as teaching materials that connect to the French National Curriculum. She met with educational and exhibit staff to discuss her experience in exhibit development and learning research. She also worked on a project that brought a set of Exploratorium exhibits to Paris.

Eric Jolly
March and May, 1997



Physicist, psychologist, vice president, and senior scientist at Education Development Center in Boston, Eric is involved in numerous national science education reform efforts. His psychology, education, and diversity research work related to needs throughout the museum. He is currently working on a large access project to get technology into the hands of people on reservations, urban community centers, and migrant farm sites. Eric also conducts diversity training programs for educators, and reviews science curriculum for elementary and secondary school projects.

 1997-99 Fellows    1994-96 Fellows    1991-93 Fellows    1988-90 Fellows