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40 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | OCTOBER 2021 Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator. He was born in Manhattan, New York, on Oct. 5,1958 and grew up in the Bronx, New York. He is the middle child of three children. His African American father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson was a sociologist and human resource commissioner for the mayor of New York City. His Puerto Rican mother, Sunchita Maria Tyson was a gerontologist for the US Department of Health. Tyson attended the public school system from kindergarten through high school. His interest in astronomy began at the age of nine after visiting the Hayden Planetarium located in the American Museum of Natural History. He says, "The universe called me, and I had no choice in the matter." Tyson says his teen years were the most formative years of his life- attending astronomy courses offered by the Hayden Planetarium. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1975 and was editor-in-chief of the school's Physical Science Journal. Tyson went on to earn his Bachelor's in Physics from Harvard (1980), his Masters in Astronomy at the University of Texas (1983) and his Doctorate in Astrophysics from Columbia University (1991). For the next three years, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University. In 1994, he joined the Hayden Planetarium as a staff scientist and the Princeton faculty as a visiting research scientist and lecturer. In 1996, he became director of the planetarium and oversaw its $210-million reconstruction project, which was completed in 2000. Tyson has 20 honorary doctorates and has written at least 29 books. His most popular books are Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and Death by Black Hole. You can listen to his newest book Cosmic Queries free on YouTube. As a science communicator, Tyson regularly appears on several media outlets and is the host of NOVA scienceNOW. Dr. Neil Tyson lives in the Tribeca neighborhood of Lower Manhattan with his wife, Alice Young. They met in a physics class at the University of Texas at Austin and were married in 1988. They have two children: Miranda and Travis. Upcoming AACC Events: Oct. 2 - Jazz Under the Stars Dec. 11 - Christmas Party The next AACC meeting will be on Monday, Oct. 4 at 6 pm in the Game Room at The Lodge. For more information, call Betty Ann James at (951) 572-5538 or email: infotoaacc@gmail.com. ~ Regina Thomas African American Cultural Club Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson: "My first cube was in 1980. Spent a week solving it, got below five minutes after a month. I've had one on my desk ever since."

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