Los Angeles Southwest College Honors Hal and Bettye Walker

(Newswire.net — October 14, 2015) Inglewood, CA —

Los Angeles Southwest College on Wednesday, October 14, will host a special event, “From Apollo 11’s Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment … To STEM, CTE & Community Education,” honoring Hal and Bettye Walker at a special event.

Hildreth “Hal” Walker Jr., a pioneer of aerospace science and engineering, was the field operations manager for the Apollo 11 Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment and in 1969 fired a high-powered ruby crystal laser from the earth to the moon to measure the earth-moon distance for the first time. Hal Walker will provide the keynote speech on the historical significance of the Apollo 11 Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment. His wife, Dr. Bettye Walker, is a pioneer of STEM education for at-risk student populations, and a former university, primary and secondary school educator and administrator. She was the International STEM Alliance Educator award in 2014-15.

 The night will include an announcement that new “GeoSTEM” labs and programs will be established at LASC and named in honor of Hal and Bettye Walker. The LASC labs will be connected to the new GeoSTEM Labs at the Walkers’ A-MAN STEM International Science Discovery & Learning Center in Inglewood and other GeoSTEM mission operations sites.  

The night will include networking and dinner from 6 to 8 p.m. in the School of Career & Technical Education as well as a panel presentation starting at 8 p.m. in the Little Theater. John Moore, NSF Einstein Fellow and “Father of GeoSTEM,” will attend the panel discussion via Skype.

 

About Los Angeles Southwest College

Founded in 1967, Los Angeles Southwest College serves more than 8,000 students with associate degree programs in 34 disciplines, occupational certificates in 47 disciplines, community services and ESL/citizenship classes. Coupled with a strong focus on student success, the campus has undergone a massive expansion and technological upgrade that will make it a model for community college education in the 21^st Century.   Los Angeles Southwest College is part of the Los Angeles Community College District. For more information, visit www.lasc.edu.