ABOUT
USA Science Festival
Founded in 2010 by Larry Bock, the USA Science & Engineering Festival pioneered the movement to inspire the next generation of innovators in STEM. Building on that legacy, our mission continues with an expanded focus to connect students with STEM career pathways that align with our nation’s growing workforce needs.
Strengthening the STEM educational foundation of our nation is vital to our future economy and the health, safety, and well-being of America's families.
-Larry Bock, Founder
What We Do
Free STEM Programs & Resources
We believe that every student deserves access to high-quality STEM learning and the opportunity to see themselves in the careers shaping our future.
Educator Support
We provide fellowships, teaching tools, professional development opportunities, and resources to help educators deliver engaging and relevant STEM content in the classroom.
Ready-to-Use Lessons
Our expanding library of dynamic videos and standards-aligned lessons provides teachers with plug-and-play activities that inspire hands-on STEM exploration.
In-Person Events
Through regional workshops we empower teachers and students to learn by doing.
About Our Founder
“Staying competitive as a nation means we have to encourage more kids to think about careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).” - Larry Bock
Larry Bock was the Founder and Principal of Science Spark, a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, and was the founder of the USA Science & Engineering Festival. Today, Larry’s vision to educate and inspire our next generation to pursue STEM careers has grown into an organization with a global effect on STEM education—a testimony to Larry’s enduring impact OUR HISTORY on the future of discovery and innovation!
Mr. Bock was a General Partner of CW Ventures, a 100M life sciences venture capital fund, and a Special Limited Partner to Lux Capital, a 100M nanotechnology focused venture capital fund. Prior to that, he spent nine years as a partner at Avalon Ventures with his friend, Kevin Kinsella. He was a Member of the Board of Directors of FEI Corporation (NASDAQ: FEIC), the leading supplier of tools for nanotechnology research.
Mr. Bock started his career as a Researcher in the early days at Genentech, Inc. in the field of infectious diseases, where he was on the team that received the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize for demonstrating the world’s first recombinant DNA vaccine. His most recent venture, Aira, a visual services company for the blind which he co-founded. Early in his career, he was a Venture Capital Associate with Fairfield Ventures (now Oxford Bioventures).
He received numerous awards and honors. Mr. Bock was selected as by the US Commission for UNESCO as the nominee representing the United States in the international competition for the 2011 Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science. He was a recipient of the Hoyt S. Vandenberg Prize from the Air Force Association for the best STEM Education Program and of the 2014 Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize of the Society of Developmental Biology. He was selected by Venture Capital Journal as one of the “Ten Most Influential Venture Capitalists,” by Red Herring as one of the “Top Ten Innovators,” by Forbes-Wolfe NanoReport as the “Number One Powerbroker in Nanotechnology,” by Ernst & Young as a Finalist for “Entrepreneur of the Year,” and by Small Times as “Innovator of the Year” and “Top 3 Business Leaders of the Year.” He received the Einstein Award by the Jerusalem Foundation for lifetime contributions in the field of life sciences. And he was one of a dozen individuals invited to the signing of the 3.7B 21st Century Nanotechnology Act by President George Bush in the Oval Office.
Mr. Bock was the Founder and Initial CEO of Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: NBIX– neuroimmunology), Nanosys Inc., Pharmacopeia (NASDAQ: PCOP -combinatorial chemistry (which spun off Accelrys (NASDAQ: ACCL – computer-aided-drug and material discovery)), GenPharm International (Private – transgenic animals, acquired by Medarex for 100M and also spun off Pharming Group N.V.), Caliper Technologies (NASDAQ: CALP – lab-on-a-chip and subsequently acquired by Perkin Elmer for $650 Million), Illumina Technologies (NASDAQ: ILMN – human genotyping), IDUN Pharmaceuticals (Private – apoptosis, acquired by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) for 250M)) Metra Biosystems (NASDAQ: MTRA – musculoskeletal disease diagnosis, merged with Quidel (NASDAQ: QDEL)), and FASTTRACK Systems (Private – accelerated clinical drug development). Mr. Bock was a co-founder of Argonaut Technologies (NASDAQ: AGNT – automated chemistry merged with Biotope (NASDAQ: BIOT)), ARIAD Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA – intra cellular signal transduction), Athena Neurosciences (NASDAQ: ATHN – molecular neurobiology, acquired by Elan Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: ELN) for 700M)), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX – rational drug design), and Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ONXX – molecular oncology).
He also helped found and was previously on the Scientific Advisory Board of Conforma Therapeutics (Private – cellular chaperones – acquired by Pfizer for 250M). Mr. Bock was a seed stage investor in Acceleron Pharma (Private – metabolic and musculoskeletal diseases), Aurora Biosciences (NASDAQ: ABSC – high throughput drug discovery, acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals for 650M), Cambrios (Priviae – biology directed electronic assembly), River Medical (Private – drug delivery, purchased IVAC from Eli Lily in an LBO and did a 700M merger with IMED to form Alaris Medical (NASDAQ: AMI – medical devices)), Genocea Biosciences (Private – vaccine development) Plexikon Pharmaceuticals (Private – scaffold based drug design which was acquired by Daiihi Sankyo for $800 M) Poland Partners (Private – a 62.5M venture capital fund investing in Central Europe), Sequana Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SQNA – genomics, merged with Arris Pharmaceuticals to form AXYS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AXPH) and subsequently acquired by Celera Genomics (NASDAQ: CRA)), Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (Private – gene regulation), Software Transformation (Private –object based software programming, acquired by Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) for 25M), Surface Logix (Private – nano- imprint lithography), and Talarian (NASDAQ: TALR – real time, high content information processing over distributed networks merged with TIBCO (NASDAQ: TIBX)). He was also on the Scientific Advisory Board of Protia L.L.C.
Larry was also an early stage venture investor in Biosym Technologies (Private –computer-aided-drug discovery – acquired by Corning (NYSE: GLW) for $250M. GenProbe (NASDAQ: GNPR – DNA diagnostics, acquired by Chugai Pharmaceuticals for 180M), Gensia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GNSA – cardiovascular drugs, merged with Sicor to become Gensia-Sicor and subsequently acquired by TEVA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TEVA)), IDEC Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IDEC – monoclonal antibody therapy, merged with Biogen to become Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB)), Oclassen Pharmaceuticals (Private – dermatology, acquired by Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) for 180M), and Viagene (Private – gene therapy, acquired by Chiron Corporation for 100M).
Mr. Bock was involved in several government agencies. He was a Member of the Advisory Board and the Technology Advisory Board of the NanoBusiness Alliance. He served as a Member of the Nanotechnology Technical Advisory Group (NTAG) reporting to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), a Member of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology formed by Congressman Mike Honda and California State Controller Steven Westly. He was on the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.
Larry and his wife, Diane, established the Larry and Diane Bock Chair in Nanotechnology at the University of California, Berkeley held by Dr. Paul Alivisatos. They also founded Community Cousins, a non-profit foundation focused on breaking down racial barriers, which was selected by former Vice President Al Gore as one of ten outstanding grass root efforts nationally.
He received his B.A. in Biochemistry (summa cum laude) from Bowdoin College and his M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA.
Larry’s accomplishments in life were a testament to his brilliance, passion, drive, and love. He was taken from us much too early. But the Science Festival will go on, combining his love of science, entrepreneurship, jovial spirit, sense of adventure and his fondest hopes and dreams as a Dad.
Our History
What began as a first-of-its-kind event on the National Mall in Washington, DC has evolved to inspire students across the country and beyond.
“You never know what might spark your curiosity, for me it was the USA Science & Engineering Festival.”
-KATE THOMSON, INSPIRED AT THE FESTIVAL AT AGE 8 TO PURSUE MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY
Diane Birnie Bock grew up in California and graduated from USC with a degree in Business. She started her career in the Marketing Department of Carnation’s London office and then relocated to Grey Advertising, Los Angeles. Next, she served as Executive Publisher of Performance Racing Industry, a trade magazine for the auto racing industry and produced a corresponding trade show. While she and her husband, Larry Bock, raised their two daughters – Quincy and Tasha – she founded Community Cousins, a non‐profit aimed at fighting racism by matching families of different races to become “Cousins” as a means toward Re‐Defining US and THEM. And she has enthusiastically supported her husband’s efforts to Celebrate Science- now serving, in his absence, as Chairman of the Board of the USA Science & Engineering Festival.
Quincy Bock is a lifelong science lover and technology enthusiast. In fifth grade, she taught her class how to clone a sheep for her “How To” speech, inspired by Dolly and her Dad’s perpetual love of all things cutting edge. As she grew up, Quincy found she thrived most when applying her creative streak to projects and assignments. Her senior year of college, she realized things had come full circle when her sculpture explaining Watson and Crick’s famous Photograph 51 won Harvard’s James Bryant Conant Prize for the best undergraduate coursework on a topic of scientific interest – the first ever non-written work to win. Clearly, Quincy was strongly influenced by her Dad’s passion for making science interesting, fun and exciting.
Tasha Bock is a fifth generation Californian. Her roots are in San Diego but she has been fortunate to travel, study and work around the world. She graduated from Dartmouth College with a History major modified with Comparative Literature and Anthropology. She augmented her studies by attending the University of Auckland in New Zealand and Semester at Sea (on which she explored 16 different countries around the Atlantic).
John Stokes had the good fortune to watch as Larry Bock, the Festival’s founder, turned his idea for a local celebration of science and technology into the Superbowl of STEM. At each Expo since the Festival’s inception in 2010, John has been inspired to see hundreds of thousands of children exploring the world of science-inspired themselves by the wonders the Festival has to offer. Needless to say, he is honored to serve on the Festival’s board.
Mary Meigs grew up in East St. Louis, IL, one of 10 children of first-generation parents who stressed education. She graduated from St. Louis University with a degree in Mathematics and a secondary education teaching credential in Mathematics. After teaching high school math in Great Neck, NY for 3 years, she moved to San Diego, earned an MBA in Accounting at San Diego State University and worked as a CPA/Tax Accountant for a national firm. Upon starting a family, Mary returned to teaching, this time at SDSU School of Accountancy. She taught Accounting for over 15 years, all while participating in the Meigs & Meigs series of Accounting textbooks and raising 4 children. Currently, Mary and her husband Robert serve as Directors of the Meigs Family Foundation supporting a variety of philanthropic projects, most in the areas of education or the arts. Mary also serves on the Board of Nativity Prep Academy which provides an 11-year support system for first-generation students to ensure they can live lives of opportunity, choice, and service—with emphasis on college completion. Mary sees STEM education as the key to unlocking opportunity, and fully embraces the “Larry Bock approach” of making STEM subjects engaging –and fun!
Michael O’Donnell is a lawyer specializing in serving biopharmaceutical and other life sciences companies. He is a partner at Orrick’s Silicon Valley office and was the founding attorney and lead attorney on the initial public offerings for companies such as Illumina, Pain Therapeutics, Cytokinetics, NeurogesX, Neurocrine Biosciences, Sequana Therapeutics, Ciphergen Biosystems, Argonaut Technologies, and Microcide Pharmaceuticals.Mike holds an undergraduate degree from Bucknell University and a JD from Harvard Law School. He is an avid sportsman, enjoying tennis, mountain biking, and lacrosse.
Adam Kalish is a General Partner at Lux Capital, an early stage emerging tech venture capital firm. He is responsible for establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with investors. He is also a valuable advisor and super-connector for Lux’s companies, helping them find new ways to increase revenue and raise capital through high-value introductions and partnerships. Prior to joining Lux, Adam served as a Director at Everest Capital, a multi-strategy, opportunistic hedge fund with several billion in assets, and worked at Quellos Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar alternative investment firm. He also worked at DreamWorks SKG in Los Angeles, where he reported directly to the President of the Studio. Adam graduated from the University of Miami with dual Bachelor’s Degrees in Communications and Economics. He also studied Finance and Economics at the University of Westminster in London, England. He has lectured at Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania. He served on the Communications Committee for The Prostate Cancer Foundation and is a supporter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He is happily married and the proud father of two beautiful girls. He’s an avid SCUBA diver and maintains a 360-gallon saltwater fish tank.
Aggie Kobrin is founder and director of CEC Global Events with expertise in planning conferences, corporate events, nonprofit and association events locally and globally for hundreds of clients and hundreds of thousands of participants. She has planned dozens of events for the National Space Society and is Director of Publications for the society and Managing Editor of their Ad Astra Magazine. She is also a partner in e360tv, a broadcast network across multiple social media platforms, producing live shows and live events.Aggie grew up in Toronto, Canada and has degrees in Psychology and Business from York University, Toronto. She lives in Southern California with her husband and adult children nearby.