Submitted photoIra Flatow is an award-winning science correspondent and television journalist. He currently hosts Public Radio International’s popular “Science Friday.”

VALDOSTA — Ira Flatow, the well-known host of Public Radio International’s popular “Science Friday,” is dropping in to Valdosta State University, Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Flatow will present “Science is the New Sexy” at 7 p.m. in Whitehead Auditorium.

Admission is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Tickets are available at www.valdosta.edu/flatow or by calling 229-333-2150 from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Flatow has shared his passion for science and technology with public radio and television fans for more than 35 years.

He is founder and president of the Science Friday Initiative, a nonprofit company dedicated to creating radio, television and internet projects that make science “user friendly.” He considers it his personal challenge “to make science and technology a topic for discussion around the dinner table.”

“I was the proverbial kid who spent hours in the basement experimenting with electronic gizmos and then entering them in high school science fairs,” Flatow said in a VSU press release on the event. He almost burned down his mother’s bathroom trying to recreate a biology class experiment.

Flatow’s “Science Friday” radio show is heard by two million people each week, according to a press release. He has also hosted numerous science-related webcasts for Discovery Online and the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

His podcasts are among the most listened to on the Internet. Flatow has appeared on a slew of television shows, including “The Big Bang Theory,” “Oprah” and the “Today” show. He has authored numerous articles in national magazines and newspapers and has won a full slate of prestigious awards for his work.

“He is more than just knowledgeable; his presentations are both entertaining and thought provoking. His ability to capture the interest of people from all backgrounds with his engaging presentations on stage, television and radio has made him a sought-after speaker,” said Anthony Scheffler, interim associate vice president for VSU Academic Affairs.

Flatow’s “Science is the New Sexy” is part of VSU’s Presidential Lecture Series and is presented in collaboration with the university’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) Center for Applied Creativity and Innovation. 

Whitehead Auditorium is located on the first floor of VSU’s Fine Arts Building, which is located at the intersection of Brookwood Drive and Oak Street.