Nobel-winning sleep doctor to wake up Cox Science Center’s Smarty Party

Ballroom at last year's Smarty Party hosted at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. [Photos by the Cox Science Center and Aquarium]

The Cox Science Center and Aquarium’s signature fundraiser, the Smarty Party, returns to the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 15, bringing together curiosity, community and cutting-edge science for one of the most important nights of the year.

“This is the critical fundraiser for our general operating funds,” says Deborah Norville, co-chair of the event. “But it’s also about awareness. People come, they learn something extraordinary, and they leave feeling enriched. That’s the magic of the Smarty Party.”

Smarty Party co-chair, Deborah Norville

The event’s name, Norville says, grew organically long before her involvement. Guests would leave saying, “I’m always smarter after I attend this party.”

The name stuck — and so did the mission: to deliver meaningful science education through engaging conversations with world-class thinkers.

The 2026 Smarty Party features Michael Young, a professor of genetics whose groundbreaking research on circadian rhythms earned him the 2017 Nobel Prize in medicine. His work uncovered the genetic mechanisms that control the body’s internal clock, with implications for sleep, health and disease.

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“Everyone is dealing with sleep issues — falling asleep, staying asleep, getting enough rest,” Norville says. “This topic touches every single one of us.”

Norville met Young nearly a year ago at a Nobel Prize dinner in New York. During a casual conversation, Norville was fascinated how his South Florida roots led to an amazing career with such significant contributions to the scientific community.

“His lifelong interest in circadian rhythms started because a flower in his neighbor’s yard only bloomed at night,” she says. “That sense of curiosity — being intrigued by something small and following it all the way to world-changing science — is exactly what the Cox Science Center is about.”

“Open every mind to science” is the center’s mission, and Norville says events like the Smarty Party show how science is not abstract or distant, but deeply connected to daily life.

Smarty Party co-chairs Laing Rogers, Victoria Hagan, Deborah Norville, and Amanda Cummings

This year’s event comes at a pivotal moment for the Cox Science Center, which is undergoing a major, multiphase renovation expected to be completed in spring 2027. To avoid the active construction site, the Smarty Party is being held at the Kravis Center.

The expansion will dramatically reimagine the facility, modernizing infrastructure that dates to the 1960s, an era shaped by the Space Race and America’s fascination with exploration.

The aquarium will expand from 10,000 to 160,000 gallons, enabling visitors to experience a far broader range of aquatic life and ecosystems.

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“It’s like comparing a goldfish bowl to a full-scale tank,” Norville says. “We’re going to be able to educate people by letting them see these environments firsthand.”

Despite the construction, the Science Center remains open with popular traveling exhibits such as “Top Secret: License to Spy,” which explores the science of espionage.

Norville hopes the Smarty Party not only fills the ballroom, but also strengthens long-term community support.

“Even if you can’t attend, you can still support us,” she says. “People think a small donation won’t matter, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Every dollar raised is an investment in the future of Palm Beach County residents learning about science.”

Find tickets and sponsorship opportunities are still available for the Smarty Party. 

The Cox Science Center and Aquarium is at 4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach, near Dreher Park just west of Southern Boulevard. While the center is currently undergoing a major renovation, it remains open to the public with rotating exhibitions and educational programming.