Dr. Jim Bell is Professor at Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration in Tempe, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Astronomy at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. As President of The Planetary Society, he is a prolific public commentator on science and space exploration, earning the 2011 Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society. Jim has appeared on numerous radio and television shows, including NBC's Today show and PBS's News Hour , as well as programs on the Discovery, National Geographic, and History cable channels. Author of four illustrated trade books, he has been involved in such NASA robotic exploration missions as the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR), Mars Pathfinder, Mars Science Laboratory, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, to name a few. The main belt asteroid 8146 Jimbell is named in his honor. He lives in Tempe, AZ.