Kiwanis Club of Houston
May 24, 2018
Speaker: Paul Bernhard
Paul Bernhard is a writer/producer/designer/subject matter specialist. He and his team of exhibit creators have recently completed design and development of exhibits for the entirely new, 30,000-square-foot "Wiess Energy Hall Version 3.0" at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Bernhard and his crew previously created new exhibits for the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center in Colorado Springs, which opened to the public in May 2015.
In 2012, Bernhard’s team completed the development, design, and fabrication of exhibits for the Tom Hunt Energy Hall and the Lyda Hill Gems and Minerals Hall at the Perot Museum of
Nature and Science in Dallas. From 2007 to 2011, Bernhard developed exhibition content for numerous special exhibitions at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, including "Leonardo Da Vinci: Man, Inventor, Genius," "Fabergé: Imperial Jeweler to the Tsars," "Archaeopteryx: Icon of Evolution," and "Texas! The Exhibition."
Bernhard has contributed to exhibits for the Caspian Energy Centre in Azerbaijan, the Texas Heart Institute, and the John P. McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science. He has consulted with the developers of projects and provided content for exhibitions in China, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and UAE.
From 1996 to 2000 Bernhard wrote, produced, and appeared as “Dr. Howie Do-It” for the Telly Award-winning television program Science Quest, produced by the Houston Museum of Natural Science, KUHT TV 8, and HEB Foods, airing on PBS affiliates throughout the United States. Much of this oeuvre is now available on YouTube.
Bernhard served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy from 1985 to 1989. In 1997 he was recalled to active military service as the United Nations Liaison Officer for "Operation Uphold Democracy" in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He retired from the Naval Reserve as a Commander in 2004.
Bernhard has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, magna cum laude, from Duke University. His leisure time has included bicycling, yoga, walking, reading, collecting swizzle sticks, playing the bugle, wandering the wilderness in China, and appearing on numerous TV game shows.
