Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920/832-6590
For Immediate Release	                          Oct. 16, 1998

Titanic Discoverer Discusses Deep-Sea Exploration in Lawrence University
Convocation 

     APPLETON, WIS. -- Underwater volcanoes, giant sulfur-eating worms, the
world's most famous shipwreck.  Scientist Robert Ballard's life reads like
it was lifted from the pages of Jules Verne's '20,000 Leagues Under the
Sea."  

		   But while Verne had only his imagination to carry him to the ocean
depths, Ballard has used modern technology to visit the regions Verne only
dreamed about.

     Ballard, whose 1985 discovery of the sunken R.M.S. Titanic created a
world-wide stir, opens Lawrence University's 1998-99 convocation series
Thursday, Oct. 22 with the address, "Deep Sea Explorations."  The
convocation, in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel at 11:10 a.m., is free and open
to the public.

     A specialist in deep-ocean archeology, Ballard has seen more of the
ocean floor than anyone alive.  HeÕs compared viewing the ocean floor with
walking on the moon and says we are in "the Lewis-and-Clark stage" of
exploring these regions.  He is the founder and president of the Institute
For Exploration at Mystic (Conn.) Aquarium and recently ended a 30-year
career with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he was a senior
scientist and director of the Center for Marine Exploration.

     It was the five-hour round trips Ballard endured en route to his
workstation on the bottom of the ocean while with Woods Hole that first
inspired him to find a better way to explore the ocean depths. In 1982, he
approached the U.S. Navy with a concept of using a robot from a mother ship.
The result was the creation of Jason Jr., a small robot Ballard used in
finding the ill-fated Titanic, landing the remote-controlled robot on the
famed shipwreck's deck. 

     Following his discovery of Titanic, Ballard received thousands of
letters from students around the world wanting to go with him on his next
expedition.  In an effort to recreate the thrill of discovery for students,
Ballard created the JASON Project, a year-round scientific expedition
designed to excite and engage students in science and technology and to
motivate and provide professional development for teachers.  Now in its 10th
year, the JASON Project enables thousands of students throughout the United
States -- including more than 2,500 last year in the Fox Valley -- to share
and experience the excitement of live exploration.  It has earned praise as
the leader in distance learning programs.

     In addition to Titanic, Ballard has led or participated in more than
100 deep-sea expeditions, leading to the discoveries of the German
battleship Bismarck, the luxury liners Lusitania and Andrea Doria, merchant
ships of the Roman Empire and 11 warships from the lost fleet of
Guadalcanal. He was on the first manned exploration of the Mid-ocean Ridge,
discovered the warm-water springs and the eight-foot long giant worms in the
Galapagos Rift and found "black smokers" -- underwater volcanoes that shoot
hot fluids up from the sea floor through chimneys formed by mineral deposits
-- off the coast of Baja California.

     Widely recognized as one of the world's leading spokespersons for
marine research, Ballard served as the host of the television program
"National Geographic Explorer" from 1989-91.  
   
     He has written extensively on his ocean exploits with more than 50
articles in scientific journals as well as best-selling books on his
discoveries of the Titanic and the Bismarck.  The book, "The Lost Ships of
Guadalcanal" was published in 1993 and his latest book, "Lost Liners" was
released last fall.

     The recipient of numerous awards, including the Computerworld
Smithsonian Award in Education and Academia, Ballard earned his
undergraduate degree in geology and chemistry from the University of
California and his doctorate in marine geology and geophysics from the
University of Rhode Island.