Dr. Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is renowned nationwide for his chemical demonstration programs, and in particular for his annual presentation, Once Upon a Christmas Cheery, In the Lab of Shakhashiri.

For over 40 years, this science-oriented entertainment has played to packed houses at such varied locations as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the National Academy of Sciences and the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington and Boston's Museum of Science, as well as being televised by stations across the country.