The speaker of the Closing Lecture of the Conference on Life in the Universe is Steven J. Dick has worked as an astronomer and historian of science at the U. S. Naval Observatory since 1979. He obtained his B.S. in astrophysics (1971), and MA and PhD (1977) in history and philosophy of science from Indiana University.
Steven J. Dick is at the United States Naval observatory (USNO).

He studied astrophysics at Indiana University and received a Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science there in 1977. In 1979 Dr. Dick joined the scientific staff of the Naval Observatory as an astronomer, a position he held until being named Historian of Science in 1989. In the early 1990s, Dick acted as historian of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's High Resolution Microwave Survey: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program.

Among his publications he is author of Plurality of Worlds (1982), The Biological Universe (Cambridge University Press, 1996), and Life on Other Worlds (1998), the latter translated into four languages. He is editor of Many Worlds: The New Universe, Extraterrestrial Life and the Theological Implications (2000).

Dr. Dick served on former Vice President Al Gore's panel to examine the societal implications of possible life in the Mars rock, and is the recipient of the NASA Group Achievement Award for helping to initiate NASA's multidisciplinary program in astrobiology. He is on the Editorial Board of several journals, including the Journal for the History of Astronomy, and is an associate editor of the new International Journal of Astrobiology.

He has served as Chairman of the Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society, and as President of the History of Astronomy Commission of the International Astronomical Union.