Come take an incisive look at the history of the Golden Gate Bridge and how it’s achieved iconic status in both an aesthetic and emotional sense. At 75 years old, the Golden Gate Bridge has many meanings. A unique combination of panelists will discuss its significance to them and, in turn, to the wider community."
Bio
Paul Giroux
Paul Giroux received his BS in Construction Engineering from Iowa State University in 1979. Since then, Paul has been with Kiewit Corporation for the past 32 years working on a wide variety of heavy civil engineering mega projects throughout the United States such as Baltimore's Fort McHenry Tunnel, several hydroelectric projects, Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel Project, and most recently the new San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge Skyway Project. His current job assignment is District Quality Manager for Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. Paul is currently serving as the ASCE's Chairman for the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary event scheduled for May 2012. In October 2010 Paul presented the closing lecture at the Hoover Dam 75th Anniversary Symposium in Las Vegas. In 2008 Paul was the Chairman and featured speaker for the Brooklyn Bridge 125th Anniversary event in New York City. He is member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is a corresponding member of the ASCE's History and Heritage Committee. He is also a member of the Iowa State University Civil Engineering Advisory Board, and the Transportation Research Board. He is also a frequent speaker at national construction conferences and guest lecturer at numerous universities throughout the United States.
Brian Hackney
Brian Hackney is a correspondent for CBS 5's "Eye On The Bay." Brian is a Bay Area native, if you stretch the definition of Bay Area to include the crown-in-the-jewel of San Benito County, Hollister. He was born and raised there, attending Sacred Heart school and San Benito High School. While there, he wrote a weekly column for the Gilroy Dispatch.
He attended Cal Poly, earning a bachelors degree in Physics and a bachelors degree in Electronic Engineering in 1986, and pursued graduate work at the University of California. While at Cal Poly, he worked with Weird Al at KCPR, the campus radio station, and was hired to be the booth announcer at KSBY, the local NBC affiliate, while a sophomore in college. He also worked as an assistant in the promotion department.
After working at Raytheon as an Associate Design Engineer in the Electromagnetic Systems Division, Hackney became the chief meteorologist back at KSBY in San Luis Obispo, then went on to KCST (now KNSD) in San Diego, an NBC O&O. There, he was the weeknight meteorologist earning two Emmy awards and two Golden Mike awards for science and environmental reporting.
In 1990, Hackney moved back home to the Bay Area, signing up with KGO in the capacity of weekend meteorologist and weekday science & tech reporter. He was the weeknight 11pm meteorologist in 1992. His reporting on science, technology, and the environment, earned five more Emmy awards during his tenure.
In 1995 he moved to KRON, then an NBC affiliate, both as meteorologist and, by 2001, a news anchor. In 2005, his work earned seven Emmy nominations. He won four, for news anchoring, weather anchoring, news reporting, and for best documentary, which was recognized by NATAS as "an unprecedented show of versatility." It was also the most Emmys for a single individual in 2005 and represented half the entire station total at KRON.
Hackney was also co-host of the National Emmy award-winning "Newton's Apple", PBS's longest-running family science program. In the course of the show, his reports were featured from Switzerland to England--even from New Orleans.
Hackney is the second most senior broadcast meteorologist in the Bay Area (Joel Bartlett, a CBS 5 alum, is frequently reminded that Hackney watched him as a small child in Hollister), and lives comfortably with an aging Siamese cat in Marin. His greatest accomplishment was featuring his grandmother in his earthquake documentary and she, at age 98, still reminds him to fold his hands when seated at the anchor desk.
John Harper
John Harper is a historian at Chevron.
Kevin Starr
Kevin Starr is University Professor of History at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. From 1994 to 2004, he served as the state librarian for California.
His writing has won a Guggenheim Fellowship and gold and silver medals from the Commonwealth Club of California. He lives in San Francisco.
Kevin Starr, author of Golden Gate: The Life and Times of America's Greatest Bridge, shares why the Golden Gate Bridge is "international orange" and not a golden yellow.
