Dr. Robert Ballard will speak at the Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall at 8 p.m. on April 23 as part of the WTAMU Distinguished Lecture Series. His presentation will focus on his discovery of the R.M.S. Titanic, which sunk in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912.

“The committee decided, with this being the 100th anniversary and the current release of Titanic in 3D, it would be a perfect time to bring him to campus,” Dr. James Calvi, associate dean of education & social sciences, said.

With years of work and his development of state-of-the-art underwater visual imaging technology, Ballard was able to discover the Titanic in July of 1985. Ballard has participated in over 100 deep-sea excursions and has discovered other underwater historical graves. 

Calvi described Ballard as “the most famous explorer of the ocean alive today.” Calvi said he hoped students would take advantage of the lecture because of all of the knowledge Ballard has to offer. 

Ballard is the director of the Institute for Archaeological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, president of the Institute for Exploration, explorer-in-residence for the National Geographic Society and scientist emeritus at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 

“I think this event is cool and beneficial because the Titanic was a moment in history that, for 73 or so years, nobody actually knew the facts about,” Maranda Rivas, junior Biology major, said. “Robert Ballard is the man that brought light to the events that happened that fateful night. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that WT is giving to us students to listen to a man who made history by discovering the Titanic.” 

The event is open and free to the public. No tickets are required.