PROGRAM GUESTS

Dr. Benjamin Carson
Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Born into poverty, when he was eight, his father abandoned the family. His mother was a domestic who eventually sparked his love of learning. He was transformed from the "dummy" of his fifth-grade class to the top scholar of his school and dreamed about being a doctor. Carson entered Yale on a scholarship and then graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School. At age 33, he became the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the nation, where he soon developed techniques that have saved hundreds of hopelessly ill children. This pioneering surgeon is the recipient of innumerable honors in tribute to an extraordinary role model who has "overcome rage, racism and poverty to live the American Dream."

Dale Chihuly
The greatest glass artist of the 20th century. A butcher's son, he graduated from the University of Washington where he experimented with weaving glass. He saved money to enroll in a postgraduate glass program and "found his calling," then proceeded to rearrange the embryonic landscape of glassblowing. His art was good, but found little public interest in his art at the time, nor would there be for another 10 years. Chihuly went on to earn a Fulbright Scholarship and apprenticed at an ancient glass factory in Venice. He then received a $2,000 grant to create a school devoted exclusively to glass. Two decades later, the Pilchuck School has grown into an art institution. Meantime, his blown glass -- big, flamboyant, fragile forms of astonishingly sensuous work -- is featured in hundreds of museums and public collections around the world.

George Lucas
Creator of the most popular films in motion picture history and master screen craftsman. The son of an office furniture store owner, whose love of photography and artistic talent led him to the USC Film School, where he won awards for his short films. In 1971, he developed a script for, and directed, American Graffiti which received five Academy Award nominations. He then created and directed Star Wars, a swashbuckling intergalactic adventure story, which broke the all-time box-office record and won seven Academy Awards. Her went on to write the stories for and produce a series of phenomenally successful movies, including The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi (which won five Academy Awards), Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Dr. Kary Mullis
Independent researcher whose landmark scientific achievements have revolutionized the fields of genetics, medicine and criminal justice. Raised in North Carolina, he was a student known for irreverent humor and a prodigious aptitude for science. He went on to graduate from Georgia Tech and UC Berkeley to become a human genetics scientist. While on a moonlit mountain drive, he envisioned a way to clone DNA, thereby multiplying a single, microscopic strand of genetic material by billions within hours (which was the theoretical basis for the popular novel, Jurassic Park) The discovery was hailed as "one of the monumental scientific techniques of the 20th century. This creative and adventurous researcher is the recipient of innumerable high honors including the Thomas A. Edison Award and the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Robert Zemeckis
Award-winning director of many of the most popular motion pictures of all time. Raised on the south side of Chicago, he began making films with an 8mm camera while in high school. Later he attended the University of Southern California School of Cinema and won a student Academy Award for his film Field of Honor. He then showed the piece to producer Steven Spielberg, which led to his first development deal. He went on to direct Romancing the Stone which launched his career, and followed with the phenomenally successful Back To The Future film trilogy and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? that have earned more than $1 billion in ticket sales. He then created the box-office sensation Forrest Gump, which became one of the highest-grossing films in history and garnered for him the Oscar for Best Director.