Today, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is renewing itself. In 2002, John Motley Moreheads gift to his state and his alma mater was rechristened the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center to reflect an expanded mission. From now on, Morehead will no longer just be a gateway to the stars, but rather a gateway to all the sciences, exposing audiences to fields like genetics, virtual reality and nanotechnology.

While we are entering a new era at the Morehead Center, we are committed to the original vision of our benefactor, John Motley Morehead III to educate and inspire our visitors about the wonders of science, Thorp said.

In May 2003, the Morehead Center made the first step towards fulfilling its new mission with the debut of the film DNA: The Secret of Life, which the Center produced in collaboration with U.K.-based filmmakers, Windfall Films, and James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.

One imagines that John Motley Morehead a chemist would be pleased to know that the institution he created is now growing to educate North Carolina about all the branches of science. After all, as the Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel said more than a half-century ago, A scientist himself, he recognized that the American people must understand science. -http://www.moreheadplanetarium.org

Video provided courtesy of the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill. Visit http://www.chapelhillpreservation.com/ for more information. (less info)