Friday, May 30
6 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.)
Charles E. Smith Athletic Center - 600 22nd Street, NW (Foggy Bottom Campus)
Overflow Viewing Sites: Funger Hall, Rooms 103 and 108 – 2201 G Street, NW (Foggy Bottom Campus)
Featuring: Parade of States; Greetings from GW, DuPont, and the National Science Olympiad; Student, Coach, and Event Supervisor Pledges; Keynote Address by Dr. Benjamin Carson, renowned pediatric neurosurgeon and inspiring storyteller; and Closing Entertainment you won’t forget! The ceremony will be hosted by Master of Ceremonies Frank Sesno, GW Professor of Media and Public Affairs.
Tickets: Required for the Opening Ceremony and Overflow Viewing Sites. Tickets were requested by head coaches during the online team registration process and will be provided during onsite team registration on Thursday, May 29 and Friday, May 30. Each team will be provided with reserved seating for 17 individuals, including 15 competitors and 2 coaches. Please note the 15 competitors include the 2 who will represent the team in the Parade of States. Additional seating for alternates, chaperones, or other guests associated with the team will be provided on a space-available basis, either inside the Smith Center or at one of the designated overflow viewing sites. Due to the significant interest that teams have shown in the Opening Ceremony, it is anticipated that most teams will receive a combination of tickets for inside the Smith Center and for overflow viewing sites.
Webcast: Families and friends not joining us in-person for the Tournament are invited to visit the Tournament website at 6 p.m. on May 30 to view a live webcast of the Opening Ceremony.
Master of Ceremonies:
FRANK SESNO
Frank Sesno, professor of media and public affairs at The George Washington University, is an Emmy Award-winning journalist with more than 25 years of experience, including 18 years at CNN, where he serves as a special correspondent. His current work at CNN involves producing documentaries. Prior to working as special correspondent, Sesno served as White House correspondent, anchor, and Washington Bureau chief. He teaches how the media affects the creation of public policy and is a host and producer of in-depth specials and miniseries on PBS and the History Channel.
As a journalist, Sesno has interviewed business and government leaders, including
U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald
Reagan; former General Electric Company CEO Jack Welch; Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat; Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak; and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He covered stories ranging from the Iraq War, the disputed U.S. presidential election of 2000, and the historic series of superpower summits during the 1980s.
Before joining CNN in 1984, Sesno worked as a radio correspondent at the White House and in London for the Associated Press. He has won several journalism awards, including an Emmy, cable ACE awards, and an Overseas Press Club Award. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Keynote Speaker:
BENJAMIN SOLOMON CARSON SR., M.D.
Benjamin S. Carson is a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, where he has directed pediatric neurosurgery for nearly a quarter of a century.
Carson’s career highlights include the first separation of craniopagus (Siamese) twins joined at the back of the head in 1987, the first completely successful separation of type-2 vertical craniopagus twins in 1997 in South Africa, and the first successful placement of an intrauterine shunt for a hydrocephalic twin. He is interested in all aspects of pediatric neurosurgery, and has a special interest in trigeminal neuralgia (severe facial pain) in adults.
Carson holds more than 40 honorary doctorate degrees. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans, and many other organizations. He also serves on the board of directors of numerous organizations, including Kellogg Company, Costco Wholesale Corporation, the Academy of Achievement, and is an emeritus fellow of the Yale Corporation, the governing body of Yale University. He was appointed in 2004 by President George W. Bush to serve on the President’s Council on Bioethics.
In 2001, Carson was named by CNN and Time Magazine one of the nation’s 20 foremost physicians and scientists. The same year, he was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 “Living Legends” on the occasion of its 200th anniversary. His hundreds of awards and honors include the 2006 Spingarn Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP, and the Christian Booksellers’ Platinum Award, given for selling 1 million copies of his autobiography, Gifted Hands.
Carson also is president and co-founder of the Carson Scholars Fund, which recognizes young people of all backgrounds for exceptional academic and humanitarian accomplishments. The fund operates in 12 states and the District of Columbia. He also co-founded Angels of the OR, which provides grants to assist families with non-covered medical care expenses.
