Bill Nye Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Bill Nye
OCCUPATION: Engineer, Television Personality
BIRTH DATE: November 27, 1955 (Age: 57)
EDUCATION: Sidwell Friends School, Cornell University
PLACE OF BIRTH: Washington, D.C.
AKA: Bill Nye
Full Name: William Sanford Nye
ZODIAC SIGN: Sagittarius

Best Known For

Science educator Bill Nye is best known for hosting Bill Nye, the Science Guy, a PBS Kids show about science.

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Bill Sanford Nye

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Synopsis

Bill Nye, born on November 27, 1955, grew up in Washington, D.C., where he received a mediocre education until hard work and a smalls scholarship got him into a good private school. From there he went on to Cornell University, moved to Seattle to work as a mechanical engineer for the Boeing Company and eventually became a comedy show writer and performer. Nye went on to get his own show, Bill Nye, the Science Guy,

Quotes

"Science is the key to our future, and if you don't believe in science, then you're holding everybody back."

– Bill Nye

"Humor is everywhere, in that there's irony in just about anything a human does."

– Bill Nye

"If you look back on all the teachers that you liked, I am sure you will find they were very entertaining."

– Bill Nye

"People still move to the United States, and that's largely became of the intellectual capital we have, the general understanding of science. When you have a portion of the population that doesn't believe in that, it holds everybody back."

– Bill Nye

which was an educational program that taught science to preteens. Over its five-year run, the show was hugely successful and won 18 Emmy Awards. Nye became a well-known entertainer and went on to perform in films and television shows, among other things, after his show ended. He also remained vocal in the science community.

Early Life

American science educator William Sanford Nye, better known as Bill Nye "The Science Guy," was born in Washington, D.C. on November 27, 1955, to Jacqueline and Edwin Darby Nye. Brilliant in math and science, Nye's mother was recruited to become a codebreaker during World War II. His father was held in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, where he had no electricity, for four years: The experience made Edwin Nye a sundial enthusiast, and later, his son would become one himself.

After attending the private Sidwell Friends School, Nye enrolled at Cornell University, where he studied mechanical engineering. Upon earning his Bachelor of Science degree there, Nye went on to begin his career at The Boeing Company in Seattle, where he would live for many years. Nye developed a hydraulic pressure resonance suppressor that is still used in the Boeing 747.

Entertainment Career

Nye got his start in comedy after winning a Steve Martin look-alike contest, and went on to work as an engineer by day and a stand-up comic by night. He ventually quit his day job and became a comedy writer and performer on the show Almost Live. It was there that he earned the nickname "The Science Guy."

Soon after, Seattle's PBS KCTS-TV produced the show Bill Nye, the Science Guy, an educational television program that aired from September 10, 1993 to June 20, 1998. Nye hosted the show, which aimed to teach science to a preteen audience: Each of the show's 100 episodes focused on a specific topic. The show is often used in schools as an educational tool. Over its five-year run, the show won 18 Emmy Awards; Nye personally received seven Emmys, for writing, performing and producing.

After the show ended, Nye went on to work on other television shows, including The Eyes of Nye, a science show aimed at an older audience, and the Planet Green Network's Stuff Happens program. He also hosted the 100 Greatest Discoveries show, and appears in videos for several attractions at Walt Disney World and Epcot, including one with Ellen DeGeneres. Additionally, Nye has played a science teacher in a Disney movie and on the television crime drama Numb3rs; been a guest in segments of several other shows, including The Weather Channel and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire; and appeared on Larry King Live several times to talk about global warming—a favorite subject of his—and space exploration.