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The World Science Festival is a science festival held in New York City, and is planned as an annual event. The inaugural festival (May 28–June 1, 2008) consisted mainly of panel discussions and on-stage conversations, accompanied by multimedia presentations. A youth and family program presented topics such as sports from a scientific perspective and included an extensive street fair. A cultural program led by actor and writer Alan Alda focused on art inspired by science. The festival also included a World Science Summit, a meeting of high-level participants from the worlds of science, politics, administration, and business. The festival is the brainchild of Columbia University physicist Brian Greene and his wife, Emmy Award-winning television journalist Tracy Day. It is held in partnership with major New York City cultural and academic institutions such as Columbia University, New York University and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The 2009 World Science Festival took place from June 10 to June 14. The World Science Festival was founded by Brian Greene, a Columbia University physics professor and author of several popular-science books (such as The Elegant Universe), and his wife, Emmy Award-winning television journalist Tracy Day. Inspired by a visit to the 2005 Festival della Scienza in Genoa, where Greene had been invited to speak, the two decided that founding a similar festival in New York City would be a unique opportunity to bring science to the wider public. As they envisioned it, such a festival would allow them to combine Greene's skills as a scientist and science communicator with Day's as a journalist and producer the events were meant to be rooted in science, but also to conform to the production standards of professional TV or theater productions.[1] Day and Greene proceeded by sounding out scientists and science communicators about their idea, enlisting many of their contacts as the festival's scientific advisors. They then went on to meetings with the presidents of the city's major universities, its cultural and scientific institutions, forging partnerships for the festival's organization. According to Greene, their idea fell on open ears wherever they went, and the most frequent reaction to their proposal was the expression of disbelief that a festival like this did not already exist in New York City.[1] Early 2006 saw the founding of the Science Festival Foundation (SFF), a non-profit organization based in New York City, dedicated to organizing the festival and related events. Greene serves as the foundation's chairman, and is also on its board of directors. The other members of the board are Alan Alda, Columbia University president Lee Bollinger, the foundation's president Judith Cox, New York University president John Sexton, and Tracy Day, who also serves as the Executive Director of the festival.[2]
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