avg_rating: 4.09
name: Andrew Fraknoi
about: Andrew Fraknoi teaches non-technical astronomy and physics courses for adults at the University of San Francisco's Fromm Institute and San Francisco State University's OLLI Program. He retired in 2017 as the Emeritus Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, where he taught courses introducing astronomy and physics to non-science majors for 25 years. In 2007, he was named California Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Fraknoi also serves as a senior educational consultant for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Before coming to Foothill in 1992, he served as the Society's Executive Director for 14 years and was the editor of its popular-level astronomy magazine, Mercury.Fraknoi Andrew Fraknoi teaches non-technical astronomy and physics courses for adults at the University of San Francisco's Fromm Institute and San Francisco State University's OLLI Program. He retired in 2017 as the Emeritus Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, where he taught courses introducing astronomy and physics to non-science majors for 25 years. In 2007, he was named California Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Fraknoi also serves as a senior educational consultant for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Before coming to Foothill in 1992, he served as the Society's Executive Director for 14 years and was the editor of its popular-level astronomy magazine, Mercury.Fraknoi is author or coauthor of 15 books on astronomy and astronomy education, including The Planets and The Universe, two collections of astronomy and science fiction published by Bantam Books. He is the lead author of "Astronomy," a free, open-source, college-level textbook published by the non-profit OpenStax project at Rice University, which is now the most frequently used astronomy textbook in the U.S. See: http://openstax.org/details/astronomy In the last few years, he has begun writing science fiction stories based on good astronomy. Seven of his stories have been published so far; see: https://www.fraknoi.com/science-ficti... At the K-12 level, he has edited two collections of astronomy teaching resources, called "The Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0" (available through the Astronomical Society of the Pacific) and "Solar Science" (available from the National Science Teachers Association.) His first astronomy book for children, Wonderful World of Space, was published by Disney in 2007. In 2017, he and Dennis Schatz wrote another children's book "When the Sun Goes Dark" on eclipses.Fraknoi has written many dozens of articles and resource guides for those learning or teaching astronomy. See his website: http://www.fraknoi.com Radio listeners know him as a regular guest on local and national radio programs, explaining astronomical developments in everyday language. In Northern California, he was an ongoing guest on both the The Gil Gross Show on KGO and Michael Krasny's Forum Program on KQED. He was the “astronomer-in-residence” for the Mark and Brian Morning Show, syndicated out of Los Angeles. Nationally, he has been heard on Science Friday &amp; Weekend All Things Considered on National Public Radio. His TV appearances include The Today Show, CBS Morning News, &amp; Larry King Live.Fraknoi is a popular lecturer around the country, and has given over 450 public talks on topics ranging from “Why Falling into a Black Hole is a Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience” to “Are There Real-Estate Agents on Other Worlds?” Fraknoi serves on the Board of Trustees of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, a scientific and educational organization dedicated to the quest for life among the stars. He is also a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, specializing in debunking astrology. Fraknoi has a strong interest in helping to improve the way science is taught in the nations' schools. For 20 summers he organized and led the national "Universe in the Classroom" workshops on teaching astronomy in grades 3-12. He also moderates the "Cosmos in the Classroom" symposia, held every three years, on teaching introductory astronomy at the college level. He was the founder and director of Project ASTRO (a program to bring volunteer astronomers into 4th through 9th grade classrooms on an ongoing basis) that now operates in 13 regional sites around the country. A branch of this project, called Family ASTRO, has developed games, activities, and workshops to help families do astronomy together.Fraknoi was educated at Harvard and the University of California at Berkeley, and has taught astronomy and physics at San Francisco State University, ...more