Bill Nye
From the Bill Nye wiki article:
William Sanford “Bill” Nye (born November 27, 1955),[1] popularly known as “Bill Nye the Science Guy“, is an American science educator, comedian, television host and mechanical engineer. He is best known as the host of the Disney children’s science show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1998) and for his many subsequent appearances in popular media as a science educator.
Early life and career
Nye was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Jacqueline (née Jenkins) and Edwin Darby “Ned” Nye, a sundial manufacturer.[2][3][4] Nye is a fourth-generation Washingtonian on his father’s side of family. After attending Lafayette Elementary and Alice Deal Junior High in the city, he was accepted to the private Sidwell Friends School on a partial scholarship, graduating in 1973.[5][6] He studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, where one of his professors was Carl Sagan,[7] and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1977.[8]
Nye began his career in Seattle at Boeing at which point, among other things, he starred in training films and developed a hydraulic pressure resonance suppressor still used in the 747. Later, he worked as a consultant and in the aeronautics industry. Nye told the St. Petersburg Times in 1999 that he applied to be a NASA astronaut every few years but was always rejected.[9]
The Science Guy
Nye began his professional entertainment career as an actor on a local sketch comedy television show in Seattle, Almost Live!; Nye attempted to correct the host of Almost Live! after the host pronounced “gigawatt” as “jigowatt”.[10][11] The character name came from the host’s comment, “Who do you think you are? Bill Nye the Science Guy?” and Nye was thereafter known as such on the program. His other main recurring role on Almost Live! was as Speedwalker, a speedwalking Seattle superhero.
Post-Science Guy career
He played in Disney’s 1998 TV movie The Principal Takes a Holiday; he made a hovercraft, in order to demonstrate science in an unusual classroom manner. From 2000 to 2002, Nye was the technical expert in BattleBots.
Nye has guest starred in several episodes of the crime drama Numb3rs as an engineering faculty member. A lecture Nye gave several years ago on exciting children about math was an inspiration for creating the Numb3rs show.[16]
Life outside television
He holds several United States patents,[26] including one for ballet shoes[24] and another for an educational magnifying glass created by filling a clear plastic bag with water.[27][28]