TITANIC 110th Anniversary Speaker Series

Meet our speakers for the 2022 TITANIC 110th Anniversary Speaker Series event in Orlando on April 14-15, 2022.
Register to attend by clicking here.

Charles Haas
President of the Titanic International Society

Charlie was born in New York and is a retired teacher of high school English and journalism. Charlie is a co-founder of the Titanic International Society and a longtime trustee. He served as editor of the journal, Voyage, since the group was founded until 2006, when he became president of TIS. A lifetime highlight was making dives to the Titanic wreck in 1993 and 1996. He narrated the program “Titanic: Untold Stories,” was a member of the 1998 expedition to the wreck and contributed to the design of artifact exhibits through 2000. He was a featured speaker on the 2012 Titanic Memorial Cruise and has appeared in numerous television documentaries. With co-author John P. Eaton, he has written five books: Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy, Titanic: Destination Disaster; Titanic, The Exhibition; Titanic: A Journey Through Time; and Falling Star: Misadventures of White Star Line Ships.

Bill Sauder
Director of Titanic Research

Bill Sauder’s first direct contact with Titanic came shortly after the discovery of the wreck in 1985, helping to identify the thousands of photos brought back from that expedition. Mr. Sauder has spent more than 36 years contributing to the historical facts behind Titanic’s construction, her builders, and the culture that created her. He has worked with many of the leaders behind Titanic including numerous historians, maritime experts, oceanographers, film producers, and more. Bill provided technical assistance for Jim Cameron’s movie Titanic, and later provided technical resources to help create the most accurate computer simulation of the Titanic’s sinking possible. His work on the data gathered by RMST in 2010 has led to significant insights into the nature of the wreck. Mr. Sauder has also worked on several documentaries related to Titanic including “Titanic: The Final Word,” “Titanic at 100: Mystery Solved”, and “Band of Courage.”

Alex Klingelhofer
Conservator of Record

Alex Klingelhofer has served as the Conservator of Record for RMS Titanic, Inc for 12 years. She is a nationally recognized museum professional with a rare combination of curatorial and conservation experience. With degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Southampton, UK, she has served as a collections assessor, grant reviewer, and presenter for regional and national museums and cultural organizations like the American Alliance of Museums, Heritage Preservation, and Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Jeffrey Taylor
Director of Collections

Jeff originally received his Master’s Degree in Pacific International Affairs at the University of California, San Diego, and received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Asian Studies and Japanese Language at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

With E/M Group, he oversees the storage and handling of the Titanic: The Artifact Collection and enjoys all aspects of object and artifact care.

Bill Willard
Titanic Researcher, Big Piece Recovery

Bill Willard has been a Titanic researcher for 48 years. As a member of the 1998 Titanic Expedition, the team raised the Big Piece, and produced a live show from the ocean floor for the first time ever. Bill’s book, “Our Story: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the 1998 Titanic Expedition, chronicles the events leading up to the recovery, and post-expedition updates. It has been widely praised as a “must read” by Titanic enthusiasts all over the globe. His areas of interest include the 1998 Expedition, Project Name Them All, any and all passenger and crew stories, and the Addergoole 14.

William Lange
Director of Advanced Imaging & Visualization

Bill is a world-renowned expert in underwater imaging, camera system design, and underwater survey methods. He was also the first person to see & recognize the RMS Titanic wreck in 1985.
He is a veteran of over 100 scientific expeditions and documentary projects. Bill created and served as the Director of the Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he worked for over 38 years. He is also a member of the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers and the Explorers Club. Bill is also one of the few individuals to dive and survey both the Titanic and the Bismarck, and has participated in and provided imaging systems for over 10 Titanic Expeditions. In 2010, Bill led the mapping survey of the RMS Titanic which resulted in the first accurate map of the wreck site including the development of dozens of photomosaics. He has received awards from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Smithsonian Computerworld Award, Global Spec Great Moments in Engineering Award, Sloan Foundation, NOAA, and has worked on several Emmy nominated and award-winning documentaries.

Rory Golden
Diver, Speaker, Explorer

Rory Golden became the first Irish diver to visit the site of RMS TITANIC, in August 2000. He was a member of an expedition that recovered 800 artifacts from nearly 4,000 meters deep. His dive was in a Russian submersible, and he left a memorial plaque on the wreck on behalf of the people of Ireland. He returned in August 2005, leaving two more memorial plaques from Belfast on the ship. This expedition was broadcast as a documentary, “A Journey to Remember,” on BBC. In July 2021 he was contracted by OceanGate Expeditions to be the main presenter on the 2021 Titanic Survey Expedition. Other duties included assisting in the dive ops and preparation of the revolutionary new 5-person carbon fiber TITAN submersible.

Paul-Henry (PH) Nargeolet
Director of Underwater Research

P.H. serves as the Director of Underwater Research for E/M Group and RMS Titanic, Inc. and has an impressive and tenured history with Titanic. Widely considered the leading authority on the wreck site, P.H. has led several expeditions to Titanic, completed 35 dives in the submersible himself, and supervised the recovery of 5,000 artifacts, including the recovery of the “big piece” a 20-ton section of Titanic’s hull (now on display in Las Vegas).

In 2010 P.H. served as the expedition leader on the most technologically advanced dive to Titanic spearheading the first comprehensive survey map of the Ship, including imaging the bow and stern sections and her entire artifact debris field in high-resolution sonar and 3D optical imagery.

Born in Chamonix, France, P.H. lived in Africa for 13 years with his family and at 16 returned to France to complete his studies in Paris. He later joined the French Navy for a career that spanned 22 years and saw him rise in the ranks to Commander. In 1986, P.H. retired from the Navy and joined the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of Sea (IFREMER) in charge of the deep submersibles Nautile and Cyana. While at IFREMER, P.H. led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987.

Frank Goldsmith, Jr.
Survivor Descendant

Frank Goldsmith, Jr. has known about Titanic all his life, and was told the story by his grandmother and his father, both survivors of the tragedy that took the life of his grandfather. But it wasn’t until 2002 when he was asked to speak at a local grammar school that he discovered people were interested in the family’s experiences. Since then, he has presented the family story at schools, libraries, and civic groups all around Central Florida, and as far away as Tennessee and Missouri. In 2012, he recorded a DVD so that his family would hear the history and now his grandchildren and great grandchildren will know their connection to the Titanic.