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 2013 include:

SSP at Westmont College, CA Dr. Thomas Whittemore Adjunct Prof. of Physics , Westmont College "The Art and Science of Mirror Making" Dr. Omer Blaes Chair, Dept. of Physics, UC Santa Barbara "Astrophysics of Black Holes" James Randi Founder, James Randi Educational Foundation "A Magician in the Laboratory" Dr. Bethany Ehlmann Asst. Prof. of Planetary Science, Caltech and JPL "Roving Mars" Sam Kean Writer "The Violinist's Thumb" Dr. Sigrid Close Prof. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford "Meteoroids and Asteroids: Micro to Macro Impactors" Dr. Victor Tsai Asst. Prof. of Geophysics, Caltech "Tsunamis and Glaciers: the Power of Water" Dr. Lawrence Sverdrup, Jr. Senior Scientist, Trex Enterprises "Mad? Science!" Dr. Margarita Marinova SpaceX "From Antarctica to Mars: Measuring and Modeling Ground Ice"		Dr. 'Mad Scientist' Sverdrup hammers with a banana, frozen using liquid nitrogen.   Dr. Paul Butler SSP '77 describes planets outside of our solar system.
SSP at New Mexico Tech
Dr. Jill Tarter Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI, SETI Institute "Are We Alone?: Current Status of SETI Research" Dr. Jacob Scott Research Fellow, Moffitt Cancer Center, Univ. of Oxford "What We Can Learn About Cancer from the Stars" Dr. Charles Zender Prof. of Earth System Science and Computer Science, UC Irvine "Global Warming: Science Mistaken as Politics" James Randi Founder, James Randi Educational Foundation "A Magician in the Laboratory"		Mika McKinnon Geophysicist, Physics Today "Disaster Science Fiction" Dr. Lawrence Sverdrup, Jr. Senior Scientist, Trex Enterprises "Mad? Science!" Dr. Meenakshi Wadhwa Director, Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State Univ. Dr. Penelope Boston Prof. of Cave and Karst Science, New Mexico Tech "Caves: Exploring Life Underground from Earth to Mars and Beyond"