Culture Icon | Tig Notaro

Tig Notaro. Image credit: Greg Skidmore

Tig Nataro is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer. Notaro began her career in music as a band manager and promoter but her talent for comedy was clear when she first started doing stand up comedy in LA in the 1990s. Her projects continued to grow and landed her opportunities in film, radio, and television. When Notaro joined the cast of Star Trek: Discovery in Season 2, she expanded her fan base...by light years...BA DUM, TSH! As Cammander Jett Reno in Discovery, she not only brings her ascerbic humor that she's famous for, she brings a whole new level of role model to LGBTQIA2S+ communities and youth.

Notaro was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. As a breast cancer survivor, Notaro has used her visibility and experience, and unique humor, to advocate for a variety of causes including LGBTQIA2+ issues, health & wellness, and environmental causes. She has also brought attention to aspects of surviving breast cancer that society has often found challenging. Notaro became a vegan in 2017 and earned a certificate in plant based nutrition in 2019 from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies.

We join many Star Trek fans in thoroughly enjoyoing her portrayal of Commander Reno on Discovery and we are incredibly thankful for her and her inspiring story in her work and in her life. She gives new inspirational meaning to that oh-so-Star-Trek phrase, "live long and prosper".

Notaro was named the Future-ish 2022 Queen of the Smart Set.

Smart Stars | Geena Davis

Geena Davis is is an American actor, activist, model, and producer. She completed her bachelor's degree in drama from Boston College in 1979 and received honorary doctorate degrees in fine arts from Bosten College in 1999 and Bates College in 2009 for her work with the Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media.

In addition to a successful modeling, acting, and production career, Davis is an advocate and activist for a multitude of subject matters and causes including women in sports, gender bias in media, STEM, and other humanitarian and envioronmental social and environmental challenges. Davis also trained and competed for a spot in the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the sport of archery.

Davis has been nominated for and received dozens of awards including an Oscar for Best Supporting Acress in The Accidental Tourist and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama in "Commander in Chief". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences chose her for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honorary Academy Award, for her work to undestand and address gender bias in media.

Davis was named the Future-ish 2021 Queen of the Smart Set.

Sceleb | Kasha Patel

Kasha Patel is an American science journalist and comedian. Patel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Wake Forest University in 2012 and a Master of Science degree in science journalism Boston University in 2013.

Patel currently works as a digital storyteller for the NASA Earth Observatory. She has published papers in scientific journals and has been featured in The Washington Post, BBC World News, and the Travel Channel. In 2016, Patel hosted the mini-series "Earth Expeditions" on NASA TV that profiled research on the world's pressing environmental issues.

Patel started doing standup comedy in Boston but moved to Washington, DC in 2013 and continued doing standup across the country. In her own words, Patel "fills the unknown demand of Indian female comics from West Virginia" and focuses her jokes on her life as an Indian-American and science. She has opened for comedians such as Natasha Leggero, Jen Kirkman, Christian Finnegan, Mitch Fatel, and Vir Das. Patel has produced one of the only regularly-recurring science comedy shows in the United States, DC Science Comedy, since 2014.

In 2018, Patel both presented at the AAAS conference as a science journalist and performed as a comedian. That same year, Patel was named one of the "Best Undiscovered Comedians in America" by Thrillist.

Patel was named the Future-ish 2020 Queen of the Smart Set.

Social Media

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>> Facebook | DC Science Comedy
>> Instagram: @kashablanca
>> LinkedIn
>> Twitter: @kashapatel | DC Science Comedy

Additional Reading

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• Ahmed, I. 2019. Stand-up scientists use comedy to reach beyond the ivory tower. Phys.org
• Floyd, T. 2019. Comedian Kasha Patel studies the science of laughter on her D.C. Dream Day. The Washington Post
• Wikipedia

Sceleb | Shayla Rivera

Shayla Rivera promo pic for HBO Latino's "Entre Nos".
Image credit: HBO Latino
Shayla Rivera is a Puerto Rican American aerospace engineer, comedian, and STEM advocate. Rivera also wears many other hats including keynote speaker, Professor of Practice at Texas A&M, and producer. Often described as a renaissance woman, she uses humor to share her own story, as well as to inspire others.

Rivera was born and grew up in Puerto Rico. Her interest in science and engineering started at an early age, along with a keen interest in human behavior. Rivera earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M where she also took additional courses in psychology. After graduation, Rivera worked for McDonnell Douglas Space Systems as a rocket scientist, literally, in programs including the NASA Space Shuttle and International Space Station. She left NASA after five years to pursue her interest in psychology that eventually led her to corporate training, executive seminars, and motivational speaking. It was in this role that she also discovered her talent for comedy.

She worked with Debbie Allen to create the hit one woman show “Rocket Science and Salsa,” and was honored with a "Best Lead Actress" nomination by the NAACP Theater Awards. For the same production, Allen also received a nomination for "Best Choreography". She went on to participated in many other comedy events, shows, and series and was honored by Latin 2015 as the Finniest Latina Comedian.

Rivera received the Award for Excellence in Public Speaking by the Latino Speakers Bureau in 2010, LA's “Mario Moreno Cantinflas Award” in 2014, and the President’s Volunteer Service Award from the President’s Council on Service Participation in 2017.

Rivera was named the Future-ish 2019 Queen of the Smart Set.

Smart Stars | Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman is an actor, producer, and director with American and Israeli citizenship. Portman was born in Jerusalem and is the only child of Avner Hershlag, a gynecologist, and Shelley Stevens who serves as Portman's manager. Portman had maternal great grand parents who died at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and a paternal Romanian great grandmother who was a British Intelligence spy in WWII.

The family moved to the US for her father's medical education when Portman was three years old. Portman graduated from High School in Syosset, Long Island in 1999 and then studied ballet and modern dance at the American Theater Dance Workshop in New York. She later graduated from Harvard in 2003 with a BA in Psychology. She has studied several foreign languages, including Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, and Japanese. Portman co-authored two research papers that were published in scientific journals, first while she was in high school and the second while she was at Harvard. she was in college. "A Simple Method to Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar" was published in 1998 as part of the Intel Science Talent Search, co-authored by Ian Hurley and Jonathan Woodward. During her studies at Harvard as a research assistant to Alan Dershowitz, a paper on a memory research project she contributed to was published in 2002, titled "Frontal lobe activation during object permanence: data from near-infrared spectroscopy". Portman has taken graduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was a guest lecture at Columbia in 2006 and was a commencement speaker at Harvard in 2015.

Portman has appeared in many main stream and independent films, as well as television, theater, and commercials. She has been nominated for and has won many prestigious acting awards including Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and SAG Awards - among many others. Portman made her directorial debut with Eve which won the 2008 shorts competition at the 65th Venice International Film Festival.

Portman has aligned herself with many causes, including animal rights, coal divestment, education, the environment, poverty alleviation, LGBT rights, micro-lending, women's rights, and both American and Israeli politics.

Portman has an Erdős–Bacon number of 7.

Portman was named the Future-ish 2018 Queen of the Smart Set.

Sceleb | Emily Calandrelli

Image credit: NASA/Bill Stafford
Emily Calandrelli (aka "The Space Gal") is an American aeronautics engineer, television host, and advocate for STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math). She is the host and producer of FOX's Xploration Outer Space and a correspondent on Bill Nye Saves the World in addition to working for Discovery News and TechCrunch.

Calandrelli received Bachelor of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from West Virgina University (WVU). During her undergraduate years, she took time off to work in the Disney College Program at Walt Disney World which sparked an interest in themepark ride design. She also took participated in two NASA internship programs while she was an undergraduate. In her 4th year at WVU, Calendrelli received the Truman Scholarshiop and in her 5th year, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. Calandrelli then went on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to earn a Masters in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Masters in Technology and Policy where she received the Rene H. Miller Prize for her work systems engineering work.

Calandrelli was named our Queen of the Smart Set for 2017.

Culture Icon | George Takai

George Takei is an American actor, activist, director, author. Most of us know him either as Lieutenant Sulu from Star Trek or more recently as an outspoken advocate of LGBT rights. Takei was born in LA to Japanese-American parents, Fumiko Emily Nakamura and Takekuma Norman Takei. Takai’s father named him George after King George VI of the United Kingdom, whose coronation took place in 1937, the same year of George’s birth. George Takai himself is quite the Anglo/Britanophile.

In the 1940s, the Takei family was forced to live in War Relocation Centers (essentially internment camps) with many other Japanese-American families. At the end of WWII, his family returned to Los Angeles where Takai became later became student body president at his junior high school.

Takai studied architecture at UC Berkeley for a short time and later earned a BA in Theater in 1960 and MA in Theater in 1964 at UCLA. After his MA, he attended the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon in England, Sophia University in Tokyo, and the Desilu Workshop in Hollywood.

After several roles in movies and television series in the 1960s, Takai landed the role of Lieutenant Sulu on Star Trek in 1965. He continued on in the Star Trek series but continued to add other movies, plays, and television series to his list of accomplishments through the 1990s and 2000s. His appearance in the hit series Heroes garnered much attention and his participation in several reality television shows such as the Apprentice increased his visibility in pop culture even further.

Takai has been active in the public sphere for many years. From being an alternate delegate from California to the Democratic National Convention in 1972 and an unsuccessful run for the LA City Council in 1973 to his role on the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District through the 1980s, he has remained active in both pop culture and politics. Takai has released several public service announcements, some humorous and some quite serious, response to anti-gay statements or legislation.

Although there was speculation for many years, Takei officially came out as gay in a 2005 issue of Frontiers magazine revealing his 18 year partnership with Brad Altman; it was a direct response to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of same-sex marriage. Takei serves as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign "Coming Out Project". Takai and Altman were the first same-gender couple to apply for a marriage license in West Hollywood.

Takai has received many awards and honors in his work on Japanese-American relations and LGBT rights. Takai received the Order of the Rising Sun from Japan in in 2004 and 2012 he received the LGBT Humanist Award from the American Humanist Association. In 2014, he received the GLAAD Vito Russo Award. Perhaps most impressive to Future-ish fans, NASA named Asteroid 7307 in Takei’s honor.

George Takai was named our Queen of The Smart Set for 2015.

>> Facebook
>> IMDB
>> Twitter: @georgetakai
>> Wikipedia

Culture Icon | Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres is an award-winning American actress, author, comedian, spokesperson, and television host. In addition to her extensive acting and comedy career, since 2003 she has hosted The Ellen DeGeneres Show (aka "Ellen") which features celebrity interviews, musicians, new products, games, and many human-interest stories.

DeGeneres has won numerous awards, including Daytime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards, and People's Choice Awards. She has also hosted the Emmy and Academy Awards. DeGeneres received the Tulane President's Medal in 2009 and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2012. She landed her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.

DeGeneres and her partner, Portia de Rossi, are vegans and DeGeneres has regular segments on her show called "Ellen's Healthy Living" that feature tips and recipes for going vegan. She has raised awareness and money for issues ranging from animal rights and bullying to breast cancer and relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named DeGeneres a Special Envoy for Global AIDS Awareness in 2011.

The groupies of Studio F here at Future-ish are HUGE fans of DeGeneres for several reasons. She has had many STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) guests on her show ranging from actress Danika McKeller to young inventor Peyton Robertson. She also often highlights the work of outstanding teachers across the US which will always get a big gold star and an A+ from us. She is also an admirer of great design both on her show and in her personal life. Even more fabulous...DeGeneres came out publicly as a lesbian in 1997 and she has been an outspoken advocate and role model for the LGBT community ever since. She is a champion of diversity in every way and her sign-off for each show, "Be kind to one another!" has become a mantra here at Future-ish.

DeGeneres was named our Queen of The Smart Set for 2014.

PS. And yes...Ellen's occasional and outrageous guest DJ, Loni Love, was indeed our Queen of the Smart Set for 2013.

Smart Stars | Loni Love

Detroit-born Comedian and actress Loni Love may know the formula to get a good laugh but she also knows the formula for resistance, inductance, and capacitance. What are those you ask? Well, electrical engineering formulas of course.

Before her success as a comedian and actress, Love received a scholarship to Prairie View A&M University in Texas where she studied music and yes, electrical engineering. After graduating, Love worked at Xerox for eight years while moonlighting as a regular at the Laugh Factory. When layoffs at Xerox were pending, she volunteered to leave and pursue her comedy career in order to save a job for someone else. Since then she's appeared in many plays, films, and TV shows. In addition to comedy and acting, she has served as a correspondent on CNN, covered the inauguration of President Obama, and been recognized with multiple awards and honors including our very own Queen of the Smart Set for 2013.

She's got science, she's got design (we include the performing arts in the 'design' realm here at future-ish), and she's got culture...a LOT of culture. We're just psyched our Goddess of Guffaw can bring a little science and intelligent insight to Chelsea Lately on occasion...the show really needs it. Just kidding Chelsea...we love you :-)

Alyssa Campanella

Alyssa Campanella. © Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com

We've highlighted many fabulous 'glamour geeks' here on Future-ish so we are pleased to offer a string of bows and curtsies in congratulations to our first 'regal geek'. That's right, in June 2011 Alyssa Campanella, an actress, fashion model, and self-proclaimed history and science geek, was crowned Miss USA in Las Vegas. The reigning Ms. California, Campanella brings with her to the role a passion for space exploration, the arts (particularly fashion and Italian cooking), and history books.

As royalty goes, most crowns come with a string of new titles so we've come up with a couple for this smart sovereign.

Miss Next Century
We launched our Citizens of the Next Century List in 2010 and have had a fantastic time researching new inductees for our 2011 list that will be announced in December. Honorees on the list are individuals that we feel are way ahead of their time. They are people that are passionate about the science, design, and culture shaping our future and - more importantly - they are actively creating a better future...today! Just for fun, we're going to jump the gun a little and name Campanella our first ever Miss Next Century as she is a shining example of the type of individuals the honor was established to recognize. In one interview, Campanella even states that Charles Bolden, Jr., Chief Administrator of NASA, is the person she'd most like to have lunch with saying that she'd "love to discuss his opinions and thoughts about certain past missions within the NASA space program, as well as what the future holds in store for discovery." That's SO next century!

Queen of The Smart Set
Given Campanella's interests (and for a little more fun), we've also named Campanella our very first Queen of The Smart Set. We often use the term, "the smart set", to refer to our collection of people with a passion for science, design, and culture shaping our future (you can find more of our Smart Set on the sidebar to the left). Campanella has definitely earned the title. Campanella took her studies seriously early on, maintaining a 4.0 GPA through high school and was a consistent member on the honor roll. She even graduated from high school a year early after receiving a scholarship to the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts in Manhattan. Along the way, she received national merit awards from the United States Achievement Academy in 2004 and 2006. And, like many other royals around the world who support humanitarian causes, volunteering is also very important to Alyssa. She has volunteered with organizations including UNICEF, Ronald McDonald House, and Go Red for Women. In 2005, she organized a fundraiser within her community for UNICEF and raised over $2200 for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2007, she was named an Honorary UNICEF Ambassador.

Below is another image of Campanella we love. It is by David Colwell for a fashion spread in the March 2011 issue of Baltimore Magazine titled Wonderland. Notice the aircraft blueprints in the background...a perfect setting indeed for this newly-crowned thoroughly modern monarch.

Smart Stars | Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik is an American actress best known for her lead role as Blossom Russo in the 1990s sitcom Blossom and more recently for her role in CBS's The Big Bang Theory as Amy Farrah Fowler. Here at Future-ish, we are big, Big, BIG fans of Bialik because she is a perfect example of someone who is passionate about science, design, and culture.

Bialik was born in San Diego, CA to Barbara and John Bialik, a nursery school director and high school drama teacher respectively. Bialik was raised in Reform Judaism. Her given name means 'water' in Hebrew. Bialik's grandparents emigrated to the USA in the 1930s from Poland and what was at the time, Czechoslovakia/Hungary.

After Blossom, Bialik was accepted to Harvard, Yale, and UCLA. She chose UCLA to stay close to her parents and in 2000 earned undergraduate degrees in in neuroscience, Hebrew, and Jewish studies. She completed her PhD in neuroscience in 2008. Bialik is a vegan and a celebrity spokesperson for the Holistic Moms Network. She continues to study Judaism and is well known for keeping fans up to date on preparations for Jewish events and holidays via social media. Oh...and she's a huge fan of the Maccabeats.

Given Mayim's fabulous showing at the 2011 Emmy's, she's now officially on our Glamour Geek list too. Check her out on the E! 360 Glam Cam below (click image to get the full E! Glam Cam experience)...

In 2012, Future-ish named Bialik as our second Queen of the Smart Set.