HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE OLYMPIAD
The Science Olympiad began when Dr. Gerard J. Putz, Regional Science
Consultant for Macomb County Intermediate School District in Michigan, invited
John C. Cairns, State Science Supervisor for Delaware Department of Instruction,
to share the Science Olympiad program with Macomb County educators on March 29,
1982. The invitation was prompted by an article on the Delaware Science Olympiad
(The Science Teacher, December, 1977) written by Douglas Macbeth, past
Delaware State Science Supervisor that was brought to Gerard's attention by
Michigan Science Teachers Association President David Larwa. The Delaware
Science Olympiad was patterned after similar events in Pennsylvania and North
Carolina. After two successful workshops at the Macomb Intermediate School
District (March, 82) and the Edsel and Eleanor Ford Estate (January, 83),
science education leaders in Southeastern Michigan planned two very successful
tournaments at Lawrence Institute of Technology (April, 83) and Oakland
University (May, 84).
These two tournaments were so successful that Dr. Putz convinced
Mr. Cairns that they should share the program with the rest of the
nation. The Science Olympiad program was presented to the Council of
State Science Supervisors at the National Science Teachers Conference in
Boston in 1984 and sponsors were solicited from the conference
exhibitors. Gerard's experience with the Army (Lt. Col. Air Defense
Artillery, retired) and the understanding of its increasing need for a
high tech modern force led him to the Army's booth. After much
discussion, the Army decided to sponsor a National Leadership Seminar to
determine the level of interest before they committed to sponsoring the
1st Science Olympiad National Tournament. Leaders from all 50 states and
Puerto Rico were invited to this first Seminar at the St. Clair Inn in
Michigan in the summer of 1984. The event captains, coaches and
especially the students, so impressed the United States Army Recruiting
Command (USARAC) executives and the N. W. Ayer Advertising Agency, that
the Army decided to sponsor the 1st National Tournament which was later
to be hosted by Michigan State University in May, 1985. Seventeen states
participated in that tournament. There are now over 14,000 K-12 schools
participating from all 50 states, Canada and other countries. The rest
is history. We are proud that The George Washington
University will host the
24th Annual Science Olympiad National Tournament in 2008
in our nation's capitol!
The following states have hosted previous Science Olympiad National
Finals:
| Year |
Institution |
Tournament Site Coordinators |
| 1985 |
Michigan StateUniversity |
Dr. Harold Stonehouse |
| 1986 |
Michigan State University |
Dr. Harold Stonehouse |
| 1987 |
Ohio State University |
Linda Roberts |
| 1988 |
Delaware State University |
Dr. William Macintosh |
| 1989 |
University of Colorado, Boulder |
Sue Brandon &Dan Michaels |
| 1990 |
Clarion University |
Sue Zamzow |
| 1991 |
Penn Valley Community College |
Charles Gosselin |
| 1992 |
Auburn University |
Dr. Marlin Simon & Dr. W.D. Perry |
| 1993 |
University of So. Colorado, Pueblo
|
Dr. Harold McConnell & John Reinert |
| 1994 |
University of Arizona, Tucson |
Mary Lou Rankin & Gil McLaughlin |
| 1995 |
Indiana University |
Lisa Townsend & Tina Gilliland |
| 1996 |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
Dr. Milton Stombler & Ray Vito |
| 1997 |
North Carolina State University |
Phil Dail |
| 1998 |
Grand Valley State Univ., MI |
Mary Ann Sheline/Sandi Bacon/G Eacker |
| 1999 |
Chicago Museums & Univ. of Chicago |
Brent Williamson & five Host Presidents |
| 2000 |
Eastern Washington Univ., Spokane |
Jean Cavanaugh & Heather McKean |
| 2001 |
Univ. of Colorado, Colorado Springs |
Dr. Dan Dandapani & Linder Winter |
| 2002 |
University of Delaware, Newark |
Lyn Newsom/Peggy Vavalla/Fred Siegel |
| 2003 |
Ohio State University, Columbus |
Sarah Sieling/CeAnn Chalker/Tim Taylor |
| 2004 |
Juniata
College, Huntingdon, PA |
Dr. Ron Pauline |
| 2005 |
University of
Illinois, Urbana, IL |
H. Guenther, K.
Campbell, B. Williamson |
| 2006 |
Indiana
University, Bloomington, IN |
Tina Gilliland/Jocelyn Bowie |
| 2007 |
Wichita State University, Wichita, KS |
Greg Novacek/Harry Gregory |
|
