(MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA) The SETI Institute is pleased to announce that Dr. Jill Tarter was selected by the editors of TIME magazine as one of the world's 100 most “influential and powerful people.” Dr. Tarter was chosen in the “Scientist and Thinker” category for her leadership role in the scientific search for evidence of life on other worlds, and for her efforts to promote scientific literacy among youth, particularly girls and young women.

Tarter has devoted her life to the science of detecting intelligent, technological civilizations through searches of the electromagnetic (radio and now optical) spectrum, a discipline within the growing field of astrobiology.

A former Project Scientist for NASA's SETI program, the High Resolution Microwave Survey, today Tarter holds the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and is Director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute. Earlier this year, Tarter oversaw the completion of the Institute's privately funded Project Phoenix and the release of Voyages Through Time, an integrated science curriculum for high school students, developed by the Institute's education department and its partners. Tarter is currently the project leader of the Allen Telescope Array, the Institute's innovative, next-generation radio telescope that will come on line with 32 dishes late in 2004.

TIME 100

Dr. Tarter was selected by TIME magazine editors who spanned the globe searching for persons whom they consider the most important and compelling people in the world at this moment in time. The TIME distinction is the latest in a long list of Tarter's honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace, two Public Service Medals from NASA, and election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2002.

To coincide with the announcement of TIME magazine's selection, CNN Presents will air an hour-long special report profiling five of the 100 honorees, with highlights of about 10 more.

TIME will announce the “Time 100” on Sunday, April 18, with the magazine becoming available on newsstands Monday, April 19. CNN Presents: TIME 100 airs on Sunday, April 18, at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. (ET) and will replay on Saturday, April 24, at 6 a.m., 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. CNN's Aaron Brown hosts the program. During the week of April 19, CNN, CNN Headline News and CNN Airport Network will air segments of the special during regularly scheduled programming.

The SETI Institute

The SETI Institute is a 501c (3) non-profit California corporation, incorporated in 1984. The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature, prevalence of life in the universe. The Center for SETI Research and the Center for the Study of Life in the Universe comprise the two key research foci of the Institute. Innovative education programs and public outreach based upon the work of these two centers to advance the education component of the Institute's mission.

Links

Jill Tarter's Biography