Frank Dirceu Braun (

Niterói Niterói (, ) is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay facing the city of Rio de Janeiro and forms ...

) is a Brazilian and American journalist, author and entrepreneur. He is a writer and producer, with over 25 years of experience in both print and broadcast journalism. Braun has worked as an Associate Producer for 60 Minutes, and as an Investigative Producer for the CBS affiliated stations. He has covered the space programs of Brazil, the United States, and China for over a decade. Braun has also written for United Press International, CBS. News, Space News, and Business Week magazine. Braun is currently working on a memoir, written as a novel, “In the New World”. And he is also producing a theatrical play based on the life of Polio Vaccine Pioneer, Dr. Jonas Salk, including sections from “In the New World”.

Early life

Born in Brazil, and raised in the U.S., Braun is a graduate of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

with a degree in English literature. After graduation, he returned to Brazil to help launch ''The Latin America Daily Post'', an English-language daily newspaper patterned after Europe's ''International Herald Tribune''. He also worked for McKinsey & Company Inc, an international management consulting firm.

Mid-life

The Apollo Mission Anniversary events

In 1994, Braun was the executive producer for the 25th Anniversary of

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

, mankind's first landing on the Moon. Vice-President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

was the keynote speaker; Braun also produced the 25th and 30th Anniversary Galas of the

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...

mission. In December 2002, Braun and

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

's Earthship.TV co-produced the 30th Anniversary of

Apollo 17 Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon or traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on ...

, America's last mission to the Moon.

Fusion technology research

Braun serves a member of the business advisory board of a fusion technology company. He is also the co-founder of

Tri-Alpha Energy TAE Technologies, formerly Tri Alpha Energy, is an American company based in Foothill Ranch, California developing aneutronic fusion power. The company's design relies on an advanced beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC), which combin ...

Inc., a Research and Development company focused on developing fusion energy for the generation of electricity.

Collaboration with James Cameron and astronauts from the Apollo Missions

On November 15, 2001, Braun's production company collaborated with James Cameron's Earthship.TV to produce The Arthur C. Clarke 2001 Gala. The Clarke Gala honored Science Fiction Writer Arthur C. Clarke, and was attended by over 400 guests in Los Angeles. Keynote speakers included Film Director

, Actors Patrick Stewart and

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

, and Astronauts

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

, James Lovell, and Robert Crippen. In December 2002, Braun and

's Earthship.TV co-produced the 30th Anniversary of

, America's last mission to the moon.

Buzz Aldrin's official visit to Brazilian Launch Center Alcantara

In 2002, Braun coordinated the meeting for

and previous governor

Roseana Sarney Roseana Sarney Murad (born 1 June 1953) is a Brazilian politician and sociologist. She was the governor of the Brazilian state of Maranhão from 1995 to 2002 and again from 2009 to 2014. She is a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Part ...

, followed by an official visit to the Brazilian rocket launch center of Alcantara.

The Third Global Summit on Peace through Tourism in Pattaya, Thailand, 2005

Braun was one of the speakers on the session of "Role of Media in a 21st Century"

Nominations and awards

In 1992, Braun was nominated for an Emmy and captured all of the significant awards presented by the San Diego Press Club for Best Investigative journalism for television. Those awards were presented for "Bad Doctors, Blind Trust", an investigative series Braun wrote and produced, which led to reform of the California Medical Board.

Works cited by others

* Article ''Alcantara – Ready and Waiting'' was cited in Steven Lambakis's book, ''On the Edge of Earth: The Future of American Space Power''. * Article ''Brazilian Congress Criticizes Bilateral Agreement with US'' was cited in Victor Zaborsky's report, ''The Brazilian Export Control System''. * Article ''Romancing the Skies'' was cited in LT Col Robert D. Newberry's (USAF) journal ''Latin American Countries with Space Programs, Colleagues or Competitors?''.

Publications

* ''A Strange Confluence of Flights'' * ''Brazil Exercises the Option to Say No'' * ''Brazil Gears Up For Commercial Spaceport'' * ''Brazil's Space Race on Throttle Up'' * ''Brazil in Space Pushing To Be A Player'' * ''Brazil: The Survival of the Poorest'' * ''The Martian Metro'' * ''Zheng He Revisited: Space Exploration and Sino-Brazilian Relations''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Frank American male journalists Brazilian male journalists Writers from São Paulo University of California, Los Angeles alumni Year of birth missing (living people)