- The Celebration at Berkeley Lab
- Founders Day,
August 26 - About Berkeley Lab
- 75th Anniversary Calendar of Events
- 75th Anniversary Summer Lecture Series
- 75 Years of Accomplishments
- Images from Eight Decades
- Building 50 Lobby Exhibit
- An Historical Perspective on the Lab's Legacy: A Year-Long Series in The View
- The Lab's Nobel Laureates
- Berkeley Lab by the Numbers
- Logo Downloads
- Other Lab Historical Websites
Founders Day ProgramFounders Day Program
Saturday, Aug. 26
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The program will be updated frequently as details are confirmed. Go here to view details on food, access, parking and transportation.
Activities For Kids -- Various Locations
Youngsters can bounce to their heart's content in an inflatable jumper, watch a demonstration of model cyclotron, and learn about science with hands-on experiments in the Bldg. 50 parking lot.
Additional science activities for kids will be held in Bldg. 7, the Center for Science and Engineering Education.
Those who visit the Lab's fire station can check out the engines and operate a fire hose.
Pick up a treasure map in the Bldg. 50 parking lot, then find clues to help answer questions about the Lab's history. Those who complete the hunt win prizes.
The Lab's Ping Pong Club will have a table set up in Perseverance Hall for guests to play, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 3 p.m. The Club will hold the semi-finals of their tournament from 1 to 2 p.m.
Performances -- Cafeteria Stage Area
Fire Spinning: Nuclear sciences graduate student Sarah Nelson will perform fire spinning (weather permitting) at 10:30 a.m., utilizing various types of equipment, including poi (fire wicks on chains), rope snakes, and staffs, all to upbeat music.
Music: Visitors can listen to Copper Dome Bohdi (11 a.m.), a 1960s psychedelic-inspired group featuring EETD employee Julia Turner as lead singer, R&B classics by the Lab Band (1 p.m.), and rock & roll by Lawrence Livermore Lab's Free Lunch Band (2 p.m.).
Dance: Lab nuclear scientist Janis Dairiki will perform along with members of the Berkeley branch of the San Francisco Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, with musical accompaniment provided by Plaid Attitude (12:30 p.m.).
Tours
General Tours: A shuttle bus will take riders on a driving tour of the Lab, highlighting various facilities and landmarks while tour guides impart information on the Lab's history. Forty-five minute tours will be conducted every hour from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30. Pick-up and drop-off near the cafeteria stop.
These tours require sign-up at the Information Tent:
Advanced Light Source: tours every half hour from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Molecular Foundry: Talk by Mark Alper at 11 a.m. followed by tour
88" Cyclotron: Two 45-minute tours, one at 11 a.m. and the other at 1:30 p.m.
Noon Ceremony -- Cafeteria Stage
Director Steve Chu will welcome those in attendance and dedicate a time capsule, filled with contents suggested by Lab employees.
Congratulatory remarks on the Lab's 75 years of scientific achievement will be given by Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, City Council member and Lab retiree Gordon Wozniak, State Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, U.S. Senator Diane Feinstien's office, and U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee's office.
Sing Happy Birthday as Director Chu blows out candles on a cake. Cake will be served in cafteria after 1 p.m.
Be part of a group shot taken by staff photographer Roy Kaltschmidt from above the activities. The photo will be included in the anniversary time capsule.
Exhibits
Building 50 Historical Display: View the actual door to Lab founder Ernest Lawrence's original Lab on campus, some of his early cyclotrons, a time projection chamber prototype, the cardboard cigar box in which Glenn Seaborg carried his plutonium samples, a spark chamber, and various original documents and letters that trace the founding of the Lab. Go here to take an online glimpse at the exhibit.
Arts & Crafts Fair: Handmade jewelry, books, artwork, and photography are among the items that will be displayed in the cafeteria's dining hall. Some work will be available for purchase.
Car Show: Classic cars and motorcycles will be on display in the cafeteria parking lot, including a 1932 Dodge coupe, a 1950 Studebaker, and a 1959 Austin Healey.
Historical Photo Montages: Mounted in the lobby of the Cafeteria, these eight panels feature photographs that depict the highlights of each decade of the Lab's existence.
Environmental Energy Technologies Division: Learn about the latest research EETD scientists are conducting to develop better energy technologies and the reduction of adverse energy-related environmental impacts with posters and demonstrations in the cafeteria dining hall.
Building 50 Auditorium Cinema
Watch vintage films from the 1930s era, including a Flash Gordon short (10 a.m.) King Kong (10:30 a.m.), and Frankenstein (12:20 p.m.). Also included is a special presentation of "When Things Get Small," a film about nanoscience with an opening presentation by Ivan Schuller, noted nanoscientist and the film's co-producer (1:30 p.m.).
Activity Booths -- Lower Cafeteria Parking Lot
Berkeley Lab Institute (employee development and training)
Materials Sciences Division (posters, information on research)
EX-Ls (Berkeley Lab retirees organization)
UC Berkeley Retirement Center (services for UC retirees)
Friends of Science (Berkeley Lab public outreach organization)
Health Services (blood pressure and body mass index measurements)
Body Techniques (free five-minute chair massages)
Berkeley Lab Cafeteria (mug and t-shirt sales, free Coke samples)
Joint Genome Institute (hands-on fruit fly DNA experiments)
Life Sciences Division (posters, information on research)
Ping Pong Club — Perseverance Hall (open play 10 a.m .to 1 p.m. and 2 to 3 p.m., with club tournament 1 to 2 p.m.)
Information Tent -- Cafeteria Parking Lot
Stop by to pick up the day's program schedule, map, and commemorative poster, as well as details on tours, food, bathroom location, shuttle buses, and first-aid needs.
Food
Visitors can purchase $6 tickets which includes choice of hamburger, veggie burger, BBQ chicken sandwich or pizza slice, and cole slaw or potato salad, and soda or bottled water, and dessert. A $3 Kids' Meal includes pizza slice, drink and dessert. Tickets are on sale now at the cafeteria coffee bar and will be sold on the day of the event in the cafeteria lobby. Seating will be available in the dining hall, on the outdoor patio adjacent to the cafeteria, in the lawn area next to Building 70. The coffee bar will also be open.
Access, Parking and Transportation
Cars with a Berkeley Lab parking permit or an occupant with employee ID card can enter through Blackberry or Strawberry Gates. Print a pass (PDF) for guests arriving separately (requires LDAP username and password). All parking lots will be open except H1, H2, K1 and K2. Handicap parking will be available in the cafeteria (K1) lot.
Shuttle buses will depart from the Downtown Berkeley BART station at 9:30, 9:50, 10:10 and 10:30 a.m., with stops at Hearst and Milvia, Hearst and Shattuck, and Hearst and Euclid. Return trips will begin at 2 p.m. and run every 20 minutes. Employee ID or guest pass is required for each person to board the bus.
Onsite buses will circulate the Lab every 15 minutes during the celebration. Both onsite and offsite buses will load and unload near the cafeteria parking lot.