ITHACA, N.Y. -- Bill Nye, noted television popularizer of science, will be coming to Cornell University, Oct. 19-25, for his final visit as a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor.

Nye will give a free public lecture, titled "Galileo's Grapes: A Cosmological Perspective," Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in the David L. Call Auditorium of Kennedy Hall. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required and will be distributed starting Oct. 16 at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office. Tickets are limited to two per person.

During his visit Nye, a 1977 graduate of Cornell's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, will participate in classes in mechanical and aerospace engineering and astronomy.

Nye was appointed in 2001 for a three-year term as a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor. He is best known as an Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, author and performer of "Bill Nye: The Science Guy," which aired on PBS from 1992 to 1998 and currently is being rerun on the Disney network. He has since written three educational books based on ideas from the show.

The Rhodes Class of '56 professorships are awarded for a period of one to Þve years, and appointees are considered full members of the Cornell faculty. The Rhodes professorship program is overseen by the Cornell A.D. White Professors-at-Large Program.

For more information about Nye's visit or the professorship, contact Gerri Jones at (607) 255-0832 or by e-mail at gaj1@cornell.edu .

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