A renowned French scientist, educator, and administrator, Dr. Goéry Delacôte is Chief Executive of At-Bristol, a leading hands-on science and technology center. Based in Bristol, England, At-Bristol develops and features innovative interactive exhibits that make science fun and accessible to all. At-Bristol also has developed portable versions of the best interactives around the world which are now used in schools, and is the only science centre in the UK holding a professional development centre for science teachers.
From 1991 until 2005, Dr. Delacôte served as Executive Director of the Exploratorium in San Francisco, CA,. He was instrumental in positioning the Exploratorium as the finest and most acclaimed science museum in the world. He helped to raise over $200 million for the institution and grew its annual budget from $7 million to $28 million. Under his direction, the Exploratorium developed its four-time Webby Award winning website, which attracts 18 million visitors annually, and has become a leader in the use of webcasts to engage the public in the work of scientists. It also expanded its Teacher Institute and Institute for Inquiry to national programs that serve 6,000 teachers from 37 states. Dr. Delacôte has promoted a strong alliance between informal learning institutions and schools in the U.S. and in Europe. In 1998, he founded a smaller version of the Exploratorium in Paris—the Exploradome—and is presently chairman of the Exploradome’s board.
In November 2001, the French government presented Dr. Delacôte with the insignia of the Chevalier de la Legion d' Honneur, the French equivalent of knighthood. He is Professor emeritus of Physics at the University of Paris, Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Palais de la Découverte, and for nine years has been the Director of the Science and Technology Information Division of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). There, he was responsible for the creation, design, and implementation of the INIST Group, the national research library of France.
In 1979, Dr. Delacôte assembled a scientific team to create La Villette, a national science and technology museum that opened in Paris in 1986. From 1985 to 1991, he served as Chair of the Board of Directors and of the Scientific Council of the French National Institute of Pedagogical Research (INRP). Dr. Delacôte holds a Ph.D. in solid-state physics from the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.
