About twice a week a guest makes a presentation not directly related to the curriculum, followed by a reception, giving the students additional time for informal questions and open-ended discussions. Most guest speakers are prominent professors, researchers, or business leaders; some are also SSP alumni.

SSP's Guest Lecture series is underwritten by a grant from Lockheed Martin / Sandia National Laboratory.

Guest speakers at SSP / 2009 include:

California Campus Dr. Andrew J. Hanson Prof. and Chair, Computer Sciences, Indiana University "3D Journeys through the Universe in Space and in Wavelength" Dr. Tyrone Hayes Prof. of Biology, UC Berkeley "From Silent Spring to Silent Night" Dr. Duncan Agnew '67 Prof. of Geophysics, UC San Diego "The Rotating Earth: Where Astronomy meets the Oceans, the Atmosphere, the Ice Ages, and the Earth's Core" Dr. Joy A. Crisp Mars Science Laboratory Deputy Project Scientist, Jet Propulsion Lab / Caltech “Spirit, Opportunity, and the Next Big Rover Going to Mars” Dr. Michael A. Weiss '74, MD Prof. of Bichemistry, Case Western Reserve Univ. "Molecular Biophysics of Sex Determination" Dr. Amy C. Barr '94 Senior Research Scientist, Southwest Research Institute "Melting and Core Formation in Jupiter's Twin Moons Ganymede and Callisto" Dr. H. Michael Sommermann Prof. of Physics, Westmont College "A Soliton Model of Nucleons and Nuclear Interactions" Dr. Aubrey de Grey Chief Science Officer, SENS Foundation "Prospects for Defeating Aging Altogether" Dr. Ann R. Karagozian Prof. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UCLA "Combustion: Does it have a Future in a Green World?" Dr. Larry Sverdrup Senior Scientist, Trex Enterprises "Mad? Science!"		Dr. 'Mad Scientist' Sverdrup hammers with a banana, frozen using liquid nitrogen.   Dr. Paul Butler SSP '77 describes planets outside of our solar system.
New Mexico Campus
Dr. Penelope Boston Director, Cave and Karst Studies, New Mexico Tech "Caves: Exploring Life Underground from Earth to Mars and Beyond" Dr. Diana E. Wheeler Prof. of Entomology, University of Arizona "Insect Societies, or: Ants, Bees and Termites, Oh My" Dr. Paul Pottinger, MD Asst. Prof. of Medicine, Univ. of Washington Medical Center "Battling the Superbugs: Antimicrobial Stewardship & Beyond!" Dr. Henry Roe '91 Assistant Astronomer, Lowell Observatory "Titan's Methane Monsoon" Dr. Larry Sverdrup Senior Scientist, Ophthonix, Inc. "Mad? Science!"		Dr. Eileen V. Ryan Adjunct Prof. of Physics, New Mexico Tech "Follow up and Characterization of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids using the MRO 2.4m Telescope" Dr. Michael Dubson '73 Sr. Instructor, Associate Chair, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder "Optics, Meteorololgy, and an Airline Crash" Dr. William Bottke Assistant Director, Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute "Exploring the Formation and Bombardment History of the Moon" Mika McKinnon '00 Astrophysics Consultant, Stargate franchise on the SciFi Network "Disaster Science Fiction" E. Bruce Held Counterintelligence Program Manager, Sandia National Laboratories "Espionage in New Mexico" Sen. Cynthia Nava State Senator, Closing Address