World-renowned oceanographer and Titanic explorer Robert Ballard will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Memorial Chapel.
His talk is titled “Ocean Exploration: Past, Present and Future.” Ballard is a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, and his most noted work is in maritime archaeology and shipwrecks. He is most known for the discovery of the Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismark in 1989 and the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier in 1998.
During his career, he has conducted more that 120 deep sea expeditions using the latest technology and he is a pioneer in the early use of deep-diving submarines. In 2003, President George W. Bush honored Ballard with the National Endowment for the Humanities Medal. He is the president of the Institute for Exploration, scientist emeritus for the Woods Hold Oceanographic Institution and director of the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.
The talk, sponsored by the College’s Speakers Forum, is free and open to the public.