Mission & History
Mission
SSP International provides students with immersive, transformational opportunities to learn, do, and belong in science. We envision a world in which science inspires and informs humanity.
Our Values
CHALLENGE
We engage ourselves and one another, building an environment of constant discovery.
COLLABORATION
We embrace immersive experiences, fostering teamwork, enthusiasm, and innovation.
COMMUNITY
We build lifelong community that thrives on integrity and collective growth.
INCLUSION
We cultivate an inclusive environment where diversity fuels curiosity and transformation.
Our History
The Beginning
SSP International began in 1959 in Ojai, California with the first-ever Summer Science Program, making it one of the oldest STEM summer programs for high schoolers in the nation.
Following the launch of Sputnik by the U.S.S.R. in 1957, the Thacher School’s headmaster, Newton Chase, believed that American high school students were not being adequately inspired to pursue STEM careers. He conceived of an intense pre-college summer program to challenge them beyond anything they could experience in high school, but within a collaborative and supportive community.
California Institute of Technology, Pomona College, and Harvey Mudd College each contributed faculty and guest speakers, and the National Science Foundation provided funding. Pomona astronomer Paul Routly had an idea for an appropriate research program for high school students: asteroid orbit determination.
The Thacher Years
The program became co-ed in 1969. Through the 1970’s, SSP remained an informal co-op, with administrative responsibility rotated between Caltech, Pomona, Harvey Mudd and eventually the University of California, Los Angeles. After 1981, the National Science Foundation ended funding for summer programs, and the Thacher School assumed full responsibility for administering the Summer Science Program through 1999.
Summer Science Program Becomes Independent
In 2000, the Thacher campus was no longer able to host the Summer Science Program, and the program could have ended forever.
Instead, alumni and faculty rallied to incorporate a nonprofit to take over the operation of the program. The original Board included Steve Cotler ’60, Chuck Holland ’60, John Rabold ’70, Richard Bowdon ’74, and Academic Director Stuart Stephens.
In the fall of 1999, a letter went out to alumni asking for donations, and within weeks enough funds were in hand to ensure that a program could be held in 2000. The search then began to find faculty and a host campus.
Between 2000 and 2009, the Summer Science Program was held at Besant Hill School in Ojai. There was no time to move the observatory, so faculty shuttled students up and down the steep Dennison Grade each night to use the telescope located at the Thacher School.
66 Years of Impact
Summer Science Program Grows
In 2003, a second Astrophysics program opened at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.
In 2010 the California campus moved to Westmont College, assisted by Warren Rogers ’76 on their physics faculty. That year also marked the transition from film to digital images, and from main belt to near-earth asteroids.
In 2016, following three years of planning and preparation, a pilot of the first Summer Science Program in Biochemistry was held at Purdue University. Six alumni from the previous summer successfully ran through the new experiment.
In 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic threatening to derail the Summer Science Program, staff quickly pivoted to a virtual program, offering participants in need computers and technology, ensuring that faculty, staff, and participants were able to successfully virtually meet.
In 2022, a pilot of the first Summer Science Program in Bacterial Genomics was launched at Purdue with 24 participants.
In 2024, the Summer Science Program in Synthetic Chemistry debuted at Southwestern Oklahoma State University campus.
SSP International
In 2023, the Summer Science Program received a nearly $200 million bequest from the estate of the late Franklin Antonio. Franklin Antonio was a Summer Science Program alumnus from the class of 1969, co-founder of chipmaking company Qualcomm, a scientist, and a generous philanthropist.
The bequest was transformational, prompting the board to incorporate SSP International, a nonprofit organization that would run the Summer Science Program and expand its reach, create new programs, and increase access to high-quality STEM education for youth by lowering systemic barriers for communities underrepresented in the sciences.
Since receiving the bequest, SSP International has more than doubled its programming, expanded its staff, formed partnerships with universities and nonprofits with a shared vision for science education, and much more. Stay tuned for more to come!
