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About Us

Founded in 1965, the Great Lakes Planetarium Association (GLPA) is a professional organization dedicated to supporting astronomy and space science education through planetaria. While we target our efforts toward professionals in the Great Lakes region of the United States, we welcome membership from anyone connected to the planetarium industry, regardless of where they call home. Our members work (or have worked) in various fields including public and private schools, universities, museums, and even as industry vendors. We support these professionals with publications, annual conferences, educational resources, and various other initiatives.

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About Our History
GLPA's first member group photo from 1965.

History of GLPA

1965

First GLPA annual conference

1966

First graduate program in Planetarium Education

1967

First Armand Spitz lecture

1970

First North American-wide planetarium conference

1970

International Planetarium Society founded

1983

First digital planetarium installed

1988

First Astronomy Update lecture

 

Clyde Tombaugh spoke at the annual conference about discovering Pluto

1995

NASA Astronaut Dr. Tom Jones spoke at the annual conference

1997

NASA Astronaut Dr. Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17) spoke at the annual conference

2004

First hybrid planetarium installed

2011

First GLPA sponsored show premiered – “Cosmic Colors”

2012

First time the annual conference is video recorded

2013

NASA Astronaut Scott Altman spoke at the annual conference

2016

First time the annual conference was live streamed to social media

2017

Pleiades National Planetarium Conference

 

First time all seven US regional planetarium associations met together for a joint conference

2020

First entirely virtual annual conference, due to COVID-19

2021

First hybrid annual conference, due to COVID-19

2023

Stars for All National Planetarium Conference

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