Francis Slakey

Dr. Slakey is the Upjohn Lecturer on Physics and Public Policy at Georgetown University and author of the adventure memoir "To The Last Breath." His technical publications have received more than 500 citations and he has written widely on science policy issues for the popular press including Huffington Post, Slate, New York Times, and Scientific American. He has served in advisory positions for a diverse set of organizations including the National Geographic, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Creative Coalition.  He is a Fellow of the APS, a Fellow of the AAAS, a Lemelson Research Associate of the Smithsonian Institution, and a MacArthur Scholar. He became the 28th American to summit Mt. Everest in an environmental expedition that was the subject of the movie "Beyond the Summit".  He is the first person in history to both summit the highest mountain on every continent and surf every ocean.  In recognition of his adventures, as part of the Olympic Games, he carried the Olympic torch from the steps of the US Capitol.