Todd Waldman Shares Intel STS With His Children

Todd Waldman (1987 finalist, STS) remembers feeling like a VIP at the Science Talent Search. “It was such a unique and fantastic experience,” he says. “Just hanging out with a lot of other smart kids, it was a lot of fun… you got to talk about science all the time, which, as far as I’m concerned, is the best thing to do anyway.”

He was chosen as an STS finalist for a project on gene mutations and now does similar work at Georgetown University where he teaches Oncology. As a Washington, D.C. area resident, he had been to a few Intel STS Public Days and had often thought about volunteering as an evaluator for the competition, but, with his busy schedule, had never gotten around to actually signing-up.

However, that changed last spring. Todd has three children, Ben (7), Max (5), and Rebecca (3), and he decided to take his sons to Intel STS public day for the first time this year. They walked around the many exhibits in the Great Hall of the National Academy of Sciences and heard the finalists describe their innovative projects. “As always, it was very inspirational,” he says, but “there was something extra added to it, having my little kids there who were really impressed. That sort of tipped me over a little bit and made me…send the email to get involved.”

The Intel STS 2011 Public Day will be held on Sunday, March 13, 2011 in Washington, D.C.