Timothy O’Leary, S. J. Distinguished Scientist Lecture

Vagelos Professor in Energy Research and Chemistry
Inaugural Director of the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology
University of Pennsylvania (Penn)

Dr. Goldberg earned her A.B. in chemistry from Barnard College and her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Following postdoctoral study at The Ohio State University, Goldberg joined the faculty at Illinois State University, a primarily undergraduate institution, and then in 1995, moved to the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle. From 2007-2017, she served as Director of the first NSF Phase II Center for Chemical Innovation, the Center for Enabling New Technologies through Catalysis (CENTC). In 2017, she moved to her current position at Penn.

Public Lecture: “Developing Alternatives to Oil as Feedstocks for our Chemicals and Liquid Fuels”
Scientific Lecture: “Oranometallic Complexes and Molecular Oxygen: Developing Machanistic Understanding”

Dr. Delaney is a Professor of Chemistry at Brown University and currently serves as the Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the Graduate School. Research in her laboratory is focused on establishing a chemically logical roadmap to understand how DNA damage relates to genetic change and human disease. Dr. Delaney is deeply committed to mentoring and training the next generation of scientists and has been awarded the Philip J. Bray Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Physical Sciences from Brown University and the Brown University Graduate Student Mentoring and Advising Award. In addition to researching the biochemistry of DNA damage, she has an interest in cooking and how chemistry influences food. She teaches Chemical Biology, Organic Chemistry, a professional development course for graduate students, and a broad interest course Kitchen Chemistry where students explore chemistry through the lens of food and cooking. Dr. Delaney received her B.A. degree in Chemistry from Middlebury College where she conducted research with Professor Sunhee Choi on the mechanism of action of platinum-based anticancer drugs. She completed her Ph.D. degree at the California Institute of Technology with Professor Jacqueline Barton defining the ability of DNA to serve as a medium for charge transfer reactions. Dr. Delaney was a Damon Runyon postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of John Essignmann at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she studied the mutagenicity and toxicity of a variety of oxidized guanine lesions.

Public Lecture: “Beyond Watson and Crick DNA”
Scientific Lecture: “Obstacles and opportunities for DNA repair in chromatin”

Squire J. Booker, Ph.D., is an Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The Pennsylvania State University and holds the Eberly Family Distinguished Chair in Science. He is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Booker received a BA degree with a concentration in Chemistry from Austin College (Sherman, Texas) in 1987. He earned his Ph.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under Professor JoAnne Stubbe (1994) and was supported by NSF-NATO and NIH Fellowships for postdoctoral studies in the laboratories of Dr. Daniel Mansuy (Université René Descartes, Paris, France) and Professor Perry Frey (Institute for Enzyme Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison), respectively. In 1999 he moved to The Pennsylvania State University as an independent investigator. Booker’s research concerns novel mechanisms and pathways for the biosynthesis of various natural products and cellular metabolites, focusing on enzymes that use S-adenosylmethionine and iron-sulfur clusters to catalyze reactions via radical mechanisms. Currently, he is an Associate Editor for the ACS journal Biochemistry and Deputy Editor for ACS Bio & Med Chem Gold. Dr. Booker is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow. He has received the NSF Faculty Early Career Award, ACS Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award and the ASBMB Merck Award.

Public Lecture: “The Rise of Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance”
Scientific Lecture: “A Radical Solution for C(sp3)-C(sp3) Bond Formation during the Biosynthesis of Marcrocyclic Membrane Lipids”

Jennifer B. Glass, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Georgia Tech School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Program Director of the interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences B.S. degree at Georgia Tech. She earned BSc degrees in Earth and Space Sciences and Oceanography from the University of Washington, a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from Arizona State University, and a NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship at Caltech. Her research is on geochemistry and microbiology in context of the global biogeochemical cycles and astrobiology, including how microbial metal utilization co-evolved with Earth geochemistry, how microbial metabolisms influence greenhouse gas cycles, and how microbial biomolecules influence the stability of methane clathrates in the deep subsurface. Dr. Glass is also the 2021 recipient of the AGU Thomas Hilker Early Career Award for Excellence in Biogeosciences, the 2021 recipient of the Alice C. Evans Award for Advancement of Women from the American Society of Microbiology, a Kavli Fellow, and a Scialog Fellow. She serves as an Editor for the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. She is the co-director of the Georgia Tech Astrobiology program. Her education and outreach efforts focus on diversifying the STEM workforce and democratizing science through open-access science communication.

Public Lecture: “Breathing Worlds: Gaseous Fingerprints of Life”
Scientific Lecture: “Bacterial Antifreeze Proteins in the Deep Biosphere”

Michael T. Bowers, Ph.D., is an alumnus of Gonzaga University, having graduated with a B.S. in chemistry in 1962. He then received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1966 from University of Illinios with W.H. Flygare. After a brief stint at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Physics Section, Space Sciences Division), he joined the Chemistry Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1968), where he currently serves as Distinguished Professor. Dr. Bowers is a Fellow, American Physical Society, AAAS, ACS, and the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK. He was awarded the Nobel Laureate Signature Award (ACS, 1989), named a Guggenheim Fellow (1995), Field and Franklin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry (ACS, 1996), Thomson Gold Medal (1997, by the International Mass Spectrometry Society), Distinguished Contribution Award (2004, by the American Society of Mass Spectrometry), Humboldt Senior Research Award (2008, 2017 Humboldt Foundation), and the Bourke Award (2010, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK). He has served as Editor, International Journal of Mass Spectrometry (1986-2018), and Associate Editor, Journal of the American Chemical Society (1989-2012). Dr. Bowers has 470 publications, with an h-index of 84 and total citations of 26,600 (Web of Science). He has presented more than a dozen named lectures since 1994. His current research include structures and energetics of biopolymers, protein misfolding and aggregation diseases, and amino acid and peptide assembly – structures and mechanisms.

Public Lecture: “God or no God: That is the Question”
Scientific Lecture: “Assembly and Cross talk in Amyloid Diseases: ALS and Alzheimer’s.

Professor David Leigh received his Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield (UK) under the supervisor of Dr. (now Sir) J. Fraser Stoddart. He is the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry at the University of Manchester, where he is a Royal Society Research Professor. Dr. Leigh is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is a world leader in the fields of molecular nanotopology (the art of making the world’s smallest knots and links) and synthetic molecular machines. Landmark achievements of his lab include the first synthetic Brownian ratchet molecular motors (2003), synthetic molecular machines able to perform macroscopic work (2005), the invention of catalytic routes to rotaxanes, catenanes and knots, and the first molecular weaving (2020).

Public Lecture: “Making the Tiniest Machines”
Scientific Lecture: “Much Ado About Knotting”

Jean-Luc Bredas received his Ph.D. from the University of Namur, Belgium, in 1979. In 1988, he was appointed Professor at the University of Mons, Belgium, where he established the Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials. His research interests focus on the computational characterization and design of novel organic materials for organic electronics and photonics. While keeping an “Extraordinary Professorship” appointment in Mons, he joined the University of Arizona in 1999 before moving in 2003 to the Georgia Institute of Technology. In July 2014, he took a 2-½ leave of absence to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) where he served as Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of the KAUST Solar and Photovoltaics Research and Engineering Center. At Georgia Tech, where he resumed his activities in January 2017, he is Regents’ Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and holds the Vasser-Woolley and Georgia Research Alliance Chair in Molecular Design. He is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar since 2005.

Jean-Luc Bredas is a Member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science, the Royal Academy of Belgium, and the European Academy of Sciences (where he serves as Officer of the Engineering Division). He is the recipient of the 1997 Francqui Prize, the 2000 Quinquennial Prize of the Belgian National Science Foundation, the 2001 Italgas Prize, the 2003 Descartes Prize of the European Union, the 2010 Charles H. Stone Award of the American Chemical Society, the 2013 David Adler Award in Materials Physics of the American Physical Society, and the 2016 Award in the Chemistry of Materials of the American Chemical Society. He is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (Inaugural Class of 2009), American Physical Society, Optical Society of America, Royal Society of Chemistry, and Materials Research Society (Inaugural Class of 2008), and an Honorary Professor of the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Linköping, Sweden, and the Free University of Brussels. He has published over 1,100 refereed articles (that have garnered over 75,000 citations, leading to a current Web of Science h-index of 124) and given over 500 invited presentations. Since 2008, he has served as Editor for “Chemistry of Materials”, published by the American Chemical Society.

Public Lecture: “Organic Electronics or How to Conserve Energy and Produce Electricity the Organic Way”
Scientific Lecture: “The Power of ϖ: A Computational Chemist’s Journey into ϖ-Conjugated Materials”

Noah Diffenbaugh, Ph.D., is the Kara J Foundation Professor in the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences and Kimmelman Family Senior Fellow in the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. He studies the dynamics and impacts of climate variability and change. Much of his work has focused on the role of fine-scale processes in shaping climate change impacts, including studies of extreme weather, water resources, agriculture, human health, and poverty vulnerability. Dr. Diffenbaugh is currently Editor-in-Chief of Geophysical Research Letters, and a member of the Climate Safe Infrastructure Working Group for the State of California. He has served as a Lead Author for Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as a panelist for the “What We Know” Report of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Ad Hoc Committee on Effects of Provisions in the Internal Revenue Code on Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Dr. Diffenbaugh is a recipient of the James R. Holton Award from the American Geophysical Union, a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, and a Terman Fellowship from Stanford University. He has also been recognized a Kavli Fellow by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and as a Google Science Communication Fellow. Before coming to Stanford, he was a member of the faculty of Purdue University, where he was a University Faculty Scholar and served as Interim Director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center (PCCRC).

Public Lecture: “Is this global warming?”
Scientific Lecture: “Quantifying the influence of global warming on unprecedented extreme climate events”

Stephen Sprang, Ph.D., is a structural biologist, whose laboratory uses X-ray crystallography, spectroscopy, biochemistry and molecular biology to understand the molecular basis of the processes by which cells communicate with each other. For the past two decades, Dr. Sprang’s laboratory has focused on G protein-mediated signaling, through which myriad biological pathways, ranging from vision to the immune system, are controlled. The story of adrenaline signaling, to which Dr. Sprang’s laboratory has contributed, exemplifies the many pathways that converge to produce a critical biological response. Dr. Sprang received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He joined the faculty of Biochemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School where he was an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Since moving to Missoula in 2007, Dr. Sprang has directed the Center for Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics at the University of Montana, a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence supported by the National Institutes of Health. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Public Lecture: “Adrenaline: How Pathways of Discovery Converge”
Scientific Lecture: “G protein signaling: what we have learned from molecular structures”

May Berenbaum, Ph.D., is the Swanlund Professor of Entomology and head of the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research is focused on chemically mediated interactions between phytophagous insects and their host plants and the function of these interactions in the organization and structure of natural communities. In addition, she is concerned with the practical application of ecological and evolutionary principles and has examined impacts of genetic engineering, global climate change, and invasive species on natural and agricultural ecosystems. Berenbaum was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the American Philosophical Society. She currently serves as President of the Entomological Society of America. She has written many magazine articles, as well as six books, about insects for the general public. In recognition of her research and her efforts in promoting public understanding of science, she has won several awards, including in 2010 the American Association for the Advancement of Science Award for Public Understanding of Science, in 2011 the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, and in 2014 the National Medal of Science.

Public Lecture: “Apis-pocalypse now: Can science save the honey bee?”
Scientific Lecture: “Insects and wild parsnips: Coevolutionary arms races and peace treaties”

Dr. Vale’s research has focused on a universal feature of life – how biological organisms produce motion. All cells in the human body contain protein machines called “molecular motors”, which function very much like an automobile but are 100 million times smaller. By converting a chemical energy source into motion, these molecular motors are responsible for the contraction of muscles, the swimming of sperm, and the purposeful transport of many types of building blocks within cells. Defects in these transport processes can give rise to various types of human disease. Dr. Vale discovered a new type of molecular motor (called “kinesin”) and has elucidated how these molecular motors produce movement as well as many of their functions inside of cells. Dr. Vale is involved in several activities that benefit the scientific community. He founded ibiology.org, a project that produces videos of scientific talks by leading scientists and makes them freely available. He founded IndiaBioscience.org, a website for the life sciences in India. He recently served as President of the American Society of Cell Biology. Dr. Vale received the Lasker Award in Basic Medical Research, the Massry Prize, the Wiley Prize, and the Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2001, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002, and the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2012.

Public Lecture: “How scientists make discoveries”
Scientific Lecture: “How T cells detect foreign antigens”

Bruce Alberts, Ph.D., a prominent biochemist, is Editor-in-Chief of Science and served as one of President Obama’s first three Science Envoys. Alberts is also Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, to which he returned after serving two six-year terms as the president of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). During his tenure at the NAS, Alberts was instrumental in developing the landmark National Science Education standards that have been implemented in school systems nationwide. The type of “science as inquiry” teaching emphasizes logical, hands-on problem solving, and insists on having evidence for claims that can be confirmed by others. Alberts is also noted as one of the original authors of The Molecular Biology of the Cell, a preeminent textbook in the field now in its fifth edition. Alberts has earned many honors and awards, including 16 honorary degrees.

Public Lecture: “Science and the World’s Future”
Scientific Lecture: “Biology past and biology future: Where have we been and where are we going?”

Sean B. Carroll, Ph.D., is a Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Wisconsin and Vice President for Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Carroll has spent his career studying the genetic components of evolution and development, identifying the molecular mechanisms that lead to new traits and species. His research focuses on the way new animal forms have evolved. His knack for communicating complex ideas to the public in an entertaining and understandable manner is reflected in his monthly column in the New York Times and his service as a consulting producer for the Public Broadcasting television program NOVA. Carroll earned his B.A. in Biology at Washington University in St. Louis, his Ph.D. in Immunology at Tufts Medical School, and carried out his postdoctoral research with Dr. Matthew Scott at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He received an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Minnesota in 2009. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Amont his many hours and recognitions is the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers.

Public Lecture: “Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species”
Scientific Lecture: “Endless Forms Most Beautiful: Evo Devo and an Expanding Evolutionary Synthesis”

Dr. Bustamante received his Ph.D. in biophysics from University of California, Berkeley in 1981 and joined the faculty at UC Berkeley in 1998. His research has focused on the manipulation and study of individual molecules of biological interest using instruments such as optical tweezers and atomic force microscopes. His fundamental studies of biological processes involving single molecules of DNA, RNA and various proteins have improved our understanding of how cells function. Dr. Bustamante is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. He has received many awards including the Biological Physics Prize of the American Physical Society, the Alexander Hollaender Award in Biophysics from the National Academy of Sciences and the Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award by the American Association of Physics Teachers (2005). He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

Public Lecture: “Doing Biochemistry in Singulo: When less is more”
Scientific Lecture: “Grabbing the cat by the tail: Discrete steps by a DNA packaging motor and the inter-subunit coordination in a ring-ATPase”

James J. McCarthy, Ph.D., is the Alxander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography at Harvard University. Dr. McCarthy received his undergraduate degree in biology from Gonzaga University and his Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His research interests relate to the regulation of plankton productivity in the sea, and in recent years have focused on regions that are strongly affected by seasonal and inter-annual variation in climate. He is an author of many scientific papers, and he currently teaches courses on biological oceanography and biogeochemical cycles, marine ecosystems, and global change and human health. For the past two decades Dr. McCarthy has worked as an author, reviewer, and as a co-chair with the Nobel Peace Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For the Third IPCC Assessment, he headed Working Group II, which had responsibilities for assessing impacts of and the vulnerabilities to global climate change. He was also one of the lead authors on the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, and a Vice-Chair of the 2007 Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment. Dr. McCarthy is the current president of the AAAS, our nation’s largest scientific association.

Public Lecture: “How and Why Earth’s Climate is Changing”
Scientific Lecture: “Rapid Climate Change in the Arctic: Why it Should Concern Us”

Dr. Noller graduated from UC, Berkeley in 1960 and completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Oregon in 1965. After NIH Post-doctoral Fellowships in Cambridge, England and Geneva, Switzerland, he joined the faculty at UC, Santa Cruz in 1968, where he is the Robert L. Sinsheimer Professor of Molecular Biology. Since 1992 he has served as Director, Center for Molecular Biology of RNA. Ribosomes are critical to life. They are complex molecular assemblies that build proteins in living cells according to the instructions encoded on the cell’s DNA. The Noller laboratory worked out the structure of a complete ribosome in the bacterium Thermus thermophilus. This information led to greater understanding of the process of protein synthesis. In addition to expanding our scientific knowledge, Dr. Noller’s work promises new strategies to design antibiotics, a subject of increasing interest as we encounter more bacteria that have evolved resistance to existing drugs. For his leadership and accomplishments in the study of ribosomes, Dr. Noller has been recognized with several prestigious awards including in 2007 the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize in Germany and the Gairdner International Award presented by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Public Lecture: “Ribosomes: Ancient Molecular Machines that Translate the Genetic Code”
Scientific Lecture: “Ribosome Structure and Dynamics: RNA Makes Protein in Four Dimensions”

Dr. Petsko graduated Summa Cum Laude from Princeton University in 1970, and received a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he completed his doctoral research in 1973. He joined the faculty of Bandeis University in 1990, having previously been Professor of Chemistry at MIT. He holds the title of Gyula and Katica Tauber Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacodynamics and is Director of the Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, at Brandeis. Prof. Petsko’s research interests center upon the structural basis of biochemical properties. His approach is to bring a chemical perspective to bear on problems in biochemistry, structural biology, cell biology, and human health. Among numerous awards, in 1995 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and received a Guggenheim Fellowship. Although directing a Center with 16 faculty and 200 staff, Prof. Petsko always carries a full teaching load, and is proud of having taught freshman chemistry continuously, with only time off for sabbaticals, for almost 20 years. He also teaches critical thinking, protein crystallography, and the history of the detective story.

Public Lecture: “The Next Epidemic: What We’re Trying To Do About Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other Neurologic Diseases”
Scientific Lecture: “Life’s Moving Parts: The role of Protein Dynamics in Enzyme Catalysis”

Father Coyne completed his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and his licentiate in philosophy at Fordham University, New York City, in 1958. He became Director of the Vatican Observatory in 1978 where he has been a driving force in several new educational and research initiatives. He is also the Associate Director of the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. He spends five months of the year in Tucson adjunct professor in the University of Arizona Astronomy Department. Coyne’s research interests have been in polarimetric studies of various subjects including the interstellar medium, stars with extended atmospheres and Seyfert galaxies which are a group of spiral galaxies with very small and unusually bright star like centers. Most recently he has been studying the polarization produced in cataclysmic variables, or interacting binary star systems that give off sudden bursts of intense energy, and dust around young stars.

Public Lecture: “The Dance of the Fertile Universe: Chance and Destiny Embrace”
Scientific Lecture: “Emergence in a Hierarchical Universe”

Dr. Huey completed his Ph.D. in Biology at Harvard in 1975 and is Professor, Department of Zoology, at University of Washington, Seattle. His main biological research interests include evolutionary physiology of ectotherms (for example, lizards and flies), evolution of thermal sensitivity and stress resistance, rates and predictability of evolution in introduces species, the adaptive significance (or lack thereof) of phenotypic plasticity, and altitudinal adaptations in insects. He has published over 120 papers in these areas. He has done extensive field work in Peru, Chile, the Kalahari Desert, the Caribbean, Big Bend, Europe, and western North America. After hearing a lecture by Reinhold Messner, he became interested in trying to analyze factors that influence the success and death rates of Himalayan mountain climbers. His mountaineering work has been supported by a J.S. Guggenheim Fellowship. His other honors include a Miller Research Fellowship, Past-President of the American Society of Naturalists, and numerous distinguished plenary lectures.

Public Lecture: “Success and Death of Himalayan Mountaineers: An Evolutionary Perspective”
Scientific Lecture: “Evolution of Thermal Sensitivity in Ectotherms: Comparative and Experimental Approaches”

Dr. Eugenie C. Scott, a former college professor, is Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, Inc., a not-for-profit membership organization in Oakland, California, of scientists, teachers, and others that works to improve the teaching of evolution, and of science as a way of knowing. It opposes the advocacy of “scientific” creationism and other religiously-based views in science classes. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, and the advisory councils of several church and state separation organizations. She has held elective offices in the American Anthropological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Scott is the current president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Honors include the Bruce Alberts Award, the Isaac Asimov Science Award, the First Amendment Award and the James Randi Award.

Public Lecture: “The Old and the New Creationism: Antievolutionism Evolves”
Scientific Lecture: “Problem Conflicts in Evolution”

J. Michael Bishop is University Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and is an internationally recognized authority on the molecular mechanisms of cancer. Born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, he attended Gettysburg College and earned an M.D. at Harvard. He directs the G.W. Hooper Research Foundation at UCSF where he is University Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and served for ten years as Director of the Graduate Program in Biological Sciences. In 1998, he was appointed the eighth Chancellor of UCSF. Bishop has been honored by awards for his teaching; election to the National Academy of Science, the Institute of Medicine; to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, to the Institute of Medicine, and as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Bishop is an “incurable book junkie”, in the words of his wife, Kathyrn. He enjoys writing and bemoans the dreadful prose that afflicts much of the scientific literature.

Public Lecture: “Opening the Black Box of Cancer”
Scientific Lecture: “Becoming a Scientist”

Lawrence M. Krauss is the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, Professor of Astronomy, and Chair of the Physics Department at Case Western Reserve University. He is an internationally known theoretical physicist whose interests include the interface between elementary particle physics and cosmology, specifically in the areas of the early universe, the nature of dark matter, general relativity, and neutrino astrophysics. His research in these areas has won him awards, including the Gravity Research Foundation First Prize Award and the Presidential Investigator Award. He has authored over 180 scientific publications. Dr. Krauss is likely best known for his popular works in the areas of physics and astronomy, and especially for his five popular works including the national bestseller “The Physics of Star Trek”. In recognition of his efforts in this area, Professor Krauss was awarded the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s 1999-2000 Award for the Public Understanding of Science and Technology (previously won by Carl Sagan and E. O. Wilson). In April of this year he will receive the 2001 Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society, “For outstanding contributions to the understanding of the early universe and extraordinary achievement in communicating the essence of physical science to the general public.”

Public Lecture: “The Physics of Star Trek”
Scientific Lecture: “Science, Non-Science and Nonsense: From Aliens to Creationism”

Richard N. Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science at Stanford University, is renowned for his research in the area of laser chemistry. By experimental and theoretical studies he has made seminal contributions to our knowledge of molecular collision processes and has contributed to solving a variety of problems in chemical analysis. His development of laser induced fluorescence as a method for studying reaction dynamics is used in laboratories throughout the world. Dr. Zare has served the scientific community in a variety of ways. He served a six-year term on the National Science Board, serving two years as its Chairman. He was a council member for the U.S. National Academy of Sciences for three years and has served as a member of the editorial advisory board for many journals, including Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy, Analytical Chemistry, Applied Physics, Journal of Physical Chemistry and Science. For his research and service, Dr. Zare has received numerous awards including a Distinguished Service Award from the National Science Board (1998); the Analytical Award (1998), Instrumentation Award (1995), and the Peter Debye Award (1991) from the American Chemical Society; the National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences (1991); the Earle K. Phyler (1981) and the Irving Langmuir Prices from the American Physical Society; and the National Medal of Science (1983).

Public Lecture: “What can Chemists Tell us about the Origin of Life on Earth?”
Scientific Lecture: “Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy: A New Method for Making Absorption Measurements”

Leon M. Lederman, Ph.D., internationally renowned high-energy physicist, is Director Emeritus of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois and holds an appointment as Pritzker Professor of Science at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Dr. Lederman served as Chairman of the State of Illinois Governor’s Science Advisory Committee. He is a founder of and Resident Scholar at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, a 3-year residence public high school for the gifted. Dr. Lederman was the Director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory from June 1, 1979 to June 30, 1989. He is a founder and Chairman of the Teachers Academy for Mathematics and Science, active in the professional development of primary school teachers in Chicago. In 1990 he was elected President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest scientific organization in the U.S. He is a member of the National Academy of Science and has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science (1965), the Elliot Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute (1976), the Wolf Prize in Physics (1982), the Nobel Prize in Physics (1988) and the Enrico Fermi Prize given by President Clinton in 1995. He served as a founding member of the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel of the United States Department of Energy and the International Committee for Future Accelerators. Lederman chairs the Committee on Capacity Building in Science of the Paris-based International Council of Scientific Unions.

Public Lecture: “Twenty-six Hundred Years of Particle Science”
Scientific Lecture: “A Modest Proposal for Science Education”

Dr. Ursula Goodenough is Professor of Biology at Washington University, Associate Professor of Anatomy at Washington University School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Cell Biology at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Goodenough was educated at Radcliffe and Barnard Colleges and at Columbia and Harvard Universities and received her Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard in 1969. She stayed at Harvard for postdoctoral training and for faculty positions (Assistant and Associate Professor) in Biology and then, in 1978 moved to Washington University in St. Louis as Professor of Biology. Her research has focused throughout her career on the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, with most of the work pertaining to the molecular/genetic analysis of its sexual differentiation, but with side projects on the chloroplast, the flagellum/basal body, and the cell wall. She teaches a large undergraduate course in cell biology and has been active in the leadership of the American Society for Cell Biology, serving on its Council, it’s Public Policy Committee, and as President. She also wrote 3 editions of a highly successful undergraduate textbook in Genetics. Dr. Goodenough’s interest in Public Policy and the support of science has led her to assume several positions relating to these topics, including serving as a member of the Commission on Life Sciences with the National Research Council, and she has served on a number of research-grant review boards and editorial boards. During the past 5 years she has become increasingly interested in the interface between Science and Religion and, in this capacity, served as President of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science and is currently on the Editorial Advisory Board of Zygon, a Journal of Religion and Science. She has just written a book in this vein, called “Science and the Sense of the Sacred”, which is scheduled to be published by Oxford University Press in the fall of 1998.

Public Lecture: “Religious Naturalism: The Religious Response to the Epic of Evolution”
Scientific Lecture: “Sex and Speciation”

Peter H. Raven is Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden and Engelmann Professor of Botany of Washington University. He is a native of California and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1960, after completing his undergraduate work at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds honorary degrees from several universities, including the Universities of Massachusetts and Göteborg, Sweden, as well as Rutgers, Leiden and Washington Universities. Dr. Raven is Home Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the Report Review committee of the National Research Council and a member of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. In 1986, he received the International Price for Biology from the Government of Japan, in 1990 he shared with E. O. Wilson the Prize of the Institut de la Vie in Paris, in 1992 shared with Norman Myers the Volvo Environment Prize in Sweden, in 1994 shared with Arturo Gómez-Pompa the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, and in 1995 shared with Canaganayagan Suriyakumaran and Norman Myers the Sasakawa Environment Prize. From 1985 to 1990 he was a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society and several foreign academies of science, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and he has served as a member of the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri and a member of the National Science Board. Before coming to St. Louis in 1971, Dr. Raven was a member of the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University. He spent the academic year 1969-1970 in New Zealand as a Guggenheim fellow. He is past president of a number of groups, including the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Organization for Tropical Studies, and the Botanical Society of America, served as Chairman of the National Museum Services Board, and Chairman of the National Research Council Committee on the National Biological Survey. In addition, Dr. Raven is a member of the committee on Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society, Co-chair of the Editorial Committee of the Flora of China project, and Chairman of the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union. He is the author or editor of 18 books, including textbooks in biology and botany, and more than 450 scientific papers. He is active in efforts to enhance public awareness of the ecological crisis in the tropics, and the need for preservation of plants and animals throughout the world.

Public Lecture:  “Biological Extinction: It’s Scope and Meaning For Us”
Scientific Lecture: None - Informal discussion with Ecology students

Dr. Leroy Hood is the William Gates III Professor of Molecular Biotechnology, Director of the NSF Science and Technology Center for Molecular Biotechnology, and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He has an M.D. from the Johns Hopkins Medical School and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology. His research interests focus on the study of molecular immunology and biotechnology. His laboratory has played a major role in developing automated microchemical instrumentation that permits the sequence analysis of proteins and DNA and the synthesis of peptides and gene fragments. More recently, he has applied his laboratory’s expertise in large-scale DNA mapping and sequencing to the analysis of the human and mouse T-cell receptor loci – an important effort of the Human Genome Project and the genomic analysis of HIV (AIDS virus). His laboratory is also interested in the study of autoimmune diseases and new approaches to cancer biology. Dr. Hood is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association of Arts and Sciences. In 1987, he was given the Louis Pasteur Award for Medical Innovation and the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for studies of immune diversity. In 1989, Dr. Hood was awarded the Commonwealth Award of Distinguished Service for work in developing instruments used to study modern biology and medicine and the Cetus Award for Biotechnology. Dr. Hood received the American College of Physicians Award in 1990 for distinguished contributions in science as related to medicine. More recently, he received the 1993 Ciba-Geigy/Drew Award in Biomedical Research from Drew University and the 1994 Lynen Medal of the Miami Biotechnology Symposium. In May of 1994, Dr. Hood was presented with the University Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for changing how diagnoses are made and opening the doors for miracles in treatments and cures. Dr. Hood also holds honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York (1987), Montana State University (1986), the University of British Columbia (1988), the University of Southern California (1989), and Wesleyan University (1992), as well as a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree from Johns Hopkins University (1990).

Public Lecture: “Deciphering Human Heredity: A Revolution in Medicine of the 21st Century”
Scientific Lecture: “The New Challenge in Biology: The Analysis of Biological Complexity” and “Revolutions in K-12 Science Education”

Born in Chicago, Illinois on December 8, 1947, Tom Cech was raised and educated in Iowa (B.A. in Chemistry from Grinnell College). He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and then engaged in post-doctoral research in the Department of Biology at M.I.T. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1978 he joined the faculty of the University of Colorado, Boulder. In 1982, Tom Cech and his research group announced that an RNA molecule from Tetrahymena, a single-celled pond organism, cut and rejoined chemical bonds in the complete absence of proteins. Thus, RNA was not restricted to being a passive carrier of genetic information, but could have an active role in cellular metabolism. This discovery of self-splicing RNA provided the first exception to the long-held belief that biological reactions are always catalyzed by proteins. In addition, it has been heralded as providing a new, plausible scenario for the origin of life; because RNA can be both an information-carrying molecule and a catalyst, perhaps the first self-reproducing system consisted of RNA alone. Only years later it was recognized that RNA catalysts, or “ribozymes”, might provide a new class of highly specific pharmaceutical agents, able to cleave and thereby inactivate viral RNAs or other RNAs involved in disease. Dr. Cech’s work has been recognized by many national and international awards and prizes, including the Heineken Prize of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (1988), the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (1988), and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1989). In 1987, Dr. Cech was elected to the National Academy of Science and also awarded a lifetime Professorship by the American Cancer Society. Dr. Cech is currently Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and is also Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He has been heavily involved in undergraduate teaching. He also enjoys mountains and skiing.

Public Lecture: “RNA Enyzmes, the Origin of Life, and Medical Potential”
Scientific Lectures: “How to Accelerate a Reaction 1,000,000,000,000 Fold Using Only RNA” and “Life at the End of the Chromosome: Telomeres and Telomerase”

Dr. Jacqueline K. Barton is a Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. She is a native New Yorker. Barton was awarded the Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude at Barnard College in 1974 and went on to receive a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry at Columbia University in 1979 in the laboratory of S. J. Lippard. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Bell Laboratories and Yale University in the laboratory of R. G. Shulman, she became an assistant professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Hunter College, City University of New York. In 1983, she returned to Columbia University, becoming an associate professor of chemistry and biological sciences in 1985 and professor in 1986. In the fall of 1989, she assumed her present position at Caltech. Barton has received numerous awards. These include the Alan T. Waterman Award of the National Science Foundation (1985), awarded to the outstanding young scientist in the United States and the American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in Pure Chemistry (1988). She has also received the ACS Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry (1987), the ACS Baekeland Medal (1991), the Fresenius Award (1986), the ACS Garvan Medal (1992), and the Mayor of New York’s Award of Honor in Science and Technology (1988). She was a fellow of the Sloan Foundation, a Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar and an NSF Presidential Young Investigator. She is a recipient of a prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (1991) and she has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991). She has received several honorary degrees and university medals, including the 1992 Columbia University Medal of Excellence. She has, in addition, served the chemical community through her participation in a wide range of governmental and industrial boards and advisory committees. Dr. Barton’s research has focused on designing transition metal complexes which target and probe specific sites along DNA and RNA. Using chiral coordination complexes, matching their shapes, symmetries, and functionalities to sites along the strand, she has developed complexes which recognize nucleic acid sites with high specificity. These synthetic transition metal complexes have been useful in exploring principles in molecular recognition, as models for gene regulatory proteins, as photophysical and photochemical probes of nucleic acids, and in exploring reactions on nucleic acids such as electron transfer chemistry.

Public Lecture: “Travels Along the DNA Helix”
Scientific Lecture: “DNA Mediated Electron Transfer: Is the DNA Helix a Wire?”
Luncheon Lecture: “Recognition of DNA by Transition Metal Complexes”

Carl Djerassi is Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. During his scientific career in academia and industry he has been the recipient of the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Technology, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the first National Academy of Sciences Award for the Industrial Application of Science, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in Pure Chemistry, the Perkin Medal, and the 1992 ACS Priestly Medal which is the highest award of the ACS. Professor Djerassi was born in Vienna, Austria and educated at Kenyon College and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has published over 1,000 articles and seven books on the chemistry of natural products and applications of physical measurements and computer techniques to structural problems in organic chemistry. He was a major player in the development of oral contraceptives, antihistamines, and topical corticosteroids, pharmaceuticals still used by millions. Although known by many as the “father of the pill”, his most recent accolades have been in response to his initiatives in developing new approaches to insect control. Djerassi calls himself an “intellectual polygamist”. He is a collector of art, a supporter of artists, and an accomplished writer. His visit to Gonzaga will allow him to share his interest in “science in fiction” as well as to discuss some of the more scientific aspects of his productive career.

Public Lecture: “The Pill, Pygmy Chimps, and Degaś Horse”
Scientific Lecture: “How do you get a cockroach to take the Pill?”

An alum of Gonzaga University, E. James Davis remembers fondly his undergraduate education, especially the course in organic chemistry that he took from Fr. O’Leary in 1953-54. He later earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington and went on to establish himself in a variety of academic settings. In 1983, he returned to Seattle where he is currently Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington. He is the author of over 100 research papers and numerous technical reports in his areas of specialization: aerosol chemistry and physics, colloid chemistry, electrokinetic treatment of mineral wastes and transport processes in porous media. Recently Dr. Davis has applied the electrodynamic balance (an outgrowth of the classical Millikan oil drop experiment) to the study of microparticle chemistry and physics. He has been the recipient of several international awards and, in October, received the David Sinclair Award, the highest award given by the American Association for Aerosol Research. His public lecture will focus on pollution related problems with which he has been associated.

Public Lecture: “The Pollution Solution: State-wide and National Concerns”
Scientific Lecture #1: “Levitation and other Feats of Magic: The Chemistry and Physics of Small Particles”
Scientific Lecture #2: “Hydrology Concerns in Nuclear Waste Disposal”
Scientific Lecture #3: “Chemistry of Pollution Control”

Frank H. Westheimer, Ph.D., has been a member of the Harvard University faculty for 36 years, and his contributions to chemical research and science education are significant and diverse. His many awards include the National Medal of Science (1986) and the highest award of the American Chemical Society, the Priestley Medal (1988). His distinguished public service was highlighted by the 1965 “Westheimer Report” of the National Academy of Sciences committee he chaired. That insightful assessment of the past, present and future of chemistry had far-reaching impact on government policies and the pre-eminent position of American chemical science. He maintains an active concern for all levels of science education and has been particularly critical of college curriculums that offer insufficient depth and breadth for students not majoring in science. Westheimer has been described as the founder of the field of bio-organic chemistry. He was certainly one of the first physical organic chemists to seriously study biochemical reactions, and his invention of molecular mechanics (with J. E. Mayer) and photoaffinity labelling have led to powerful new insights in biochemistry. His penchant for doing new things has opened the way for others to develop his ideas to their full significance.

Public Lecture: “Science Education: You Can’t Come In In The Middle”
Scientific Lecture #1: “The Fermi Game”
Scientific Lecture #2: “Ironing Out History”

Harry Gray is director of the Beckman Institute and Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. For his pioneering research in bioinorganic chemistry and inorganic photochemistry, Gray received the National Medal of Science from President Reagan in 1986. In 1989, Gray was named California Scientist of the Year for his research on electron transfer in proteins. Since its inception some thirty years ago, this award has served to recognize contributions that open up new vistas for scientists. Gray’s work on the factors that control long-range electron transfer in biological molecules could lead to more efficient devices for energy storage, as well as to the development of an artificial counterpart to photosynthesis, the process plants use to convert sunlight to chemical fuel and oxygen. Currently active in several areas of research, Gray is spearheading the design and construction of the Beckman Institute, which has been called “a unique incubator for high-risk science”. The institute will combine the fields of biology and chemistry and allow scientists to attempt experiments which, because of their speculative nature, would be difficult to fund from traditional sources. Gray began his research in inorganic chemistry at Northwestern University, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1960. After completing a postdoctoral year at the University of Copenhagen, he went to Columbia University where he became a full professor in 1965. He joined the faculty at Caltech in 1966. In 1971, Gray was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and he has served on the NAS Council since 1986. He has received several awards from the American Chemical Society and honorary doctorates from Northwestern University, the University of Rochester and the University of Chicago.

Public Lecture: “Dishonesty in Science: Another Form of Science Fiction”
Scientific Lecture #1: “The Chemistry Revolution”
Scientific Lecture #2: “A Chemist Looks at Electron Flow in Biology”
Scientific Lecture #3: “Solar Photochemistry”

Michael Kasha has been Professor of Chemistry at Florida State University since 1951 and served as department chairman from 1959-1962. Professor Kasha is the founder of the Institute of Molecular Biophysics at FSU and served as its director from 1960-1980. Educated in chemistry at the University of Michigan (B.S.) and the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.) as well as physics at the University of Chicago (Postdoctoral Studies), he is a scientist of diverse talents and widespread influence. Dr. Kasha is internationally recognized for his pioneering research in the electronic spectra of molecules, his application of theoretical knowledge to applied mechanics, and his ability to excite students about science. His keen intellect and exploratory nature were nurtured at the side of two of the most prominent scientists of the twentieth century. G.N. Lewis and R.S. Mulliken. Professor Kasha’s research in the identification of molecular excitations and details of spectroscopic transitions puts him at the forefront of molecular spectroscopy. He has given research lectures throughout the world, in countries as diverse as Brazil, Italy, Japan and China. A rare talent is Dr. Kasha’s application of theory to practical design exemplified by numerous patents on the mechanical design of musical instruments, use of space-group theory to design new machine tools for wood boring, and design of acoustical devices for noise control. The Institute of Molecular Biophysics at Florida State University was established under Professor Kasha’s leadership and the list of productive scientists who have studied and trained under his guidance reveals this to be one of his most impressive influences. Clearly his accomplishments, awards, and honors are too extensive to list. To spotlight the uniqueness of Michael Kasha is to identify the rare ability to communicate complex and subtle topics across disciplinary boundaries and to extend the boundaries and understanding of new phenomena, bringing inspiration and stimulation to those individuals around him. It has been said that people who interact with him “catch fire” for research.

Public Lecture: “Art, Science, and Music: String Instruments”
Scientific Lecture #1: “Singlet Molecular Oxygen: Physics, Chemistry and Biology”
Scientific Lecture #2: “Four Great Personalities of Science – G.H. Lewis, J. Franck, R.S. Mulliken and A. Szent-Gyorgyi”
Scientific Lecture #3: “Proton-Transfer Spectroscopy and the Proton-Transfer Laser”

Henry Taube has been Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University since 1962, and served as department chairman from 1972-74 and 1978-79. His research over the past forty years has been central to the development of modern mechanistic inorganic chemistry. His numerous honors include the Nobel prize in Chemistry in 1983 for elucidating the mechanisms of oxidation-reduction reactions involving transition metal ions. Professor Taube earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, and the Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1940. He taught at UC, Berkeley and Cornell before moving to the University of Chicago in 1946. There he developed his research program on the coordination chemistry of the transition metals and convincingly demonstrated the correlation between ligand substitution rates and the electronic configuration of the transition metal ion. He served as chemistry department chairman at Chicago from 1956-1959 before moving to Stanford. Dr. Taube has authored a book and some 300 scientific articles on his research. More than twenty-five major honors have been given in recognition of his scientific contributions, most significant of which may be the 1985 Priestley Medal, the highest award of the American Chemical Society. His current research interests include the new aquo ions; chemistry of nitrogen as a ligand; charge transfer and its effect on the reactivity of ligands; mixed valence molecules; mechanisms of atom and electronic transfer reactions; and electrode catalysis. It is no mere coincidence that these topics also constitute some of today’s most rapidly developing areas of chemistry.

Public Lecture: “Basic Research in a Practical Science”
Scientific Lecture #1: “Intramolecular Electron Transfer”
Scientific Lecture #2: “Mixed Valence Molecules”
Scientific Lecture #3: “Back Bonding as Manifested in Reactivity”

Henry A. Bent is Professor of Chemistry at North Carolina State University. He is a noted chemical educator who currently serves as Chairman of the Committee on Professional Training of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the group responsible for establishing and reviewing criteria for undergraduate programs in chemistry. Dr. Bent is also a Councilor for the ACS Division of Chemical Education, having previously been the Division Chairman as well as the Chairman of the Holyoke Biennial Conference in Chemical Education. His commitment to excellence in chemical education is exemplified in his own teaching. He has been the recipient of a Manufacturing Chemists Award in College Chemistry Teaching, the ACS Union Carbide Award in Chemical Education and the James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry. Professor Bent is the author of numerous journal articles, but is perhaps best known for his book, The Second Law: An Introduction to Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics, which has had a major impact on the teaching of chemical thermodynamics. A man of multidimensional interests, Dr. Bent is equally at ease in discussing his scientific research or philosophy. He demonstrates the integration of scientific and humanistic thought – a belief that neither is whole without the other. His innovative and creative approaches have led to such presentations as Thermodynamics, Art, Poetry, and the Environment (An NSF-AAAS Chautauqua Course for College Teachers). The value of his opinions and his zeal in supporting quality of education in all fields is reflected in the enumerable invitations extended to Dr. Bent for lectures, seminars, consultations, and visiting professorships. While a noted educator, Dr. Bent has a variety of research interests in chemistry in addition to being an ardent chemical historian and philosopher. His research covers diverse areas from electronic structures and bonding, through the combustion of solid rocket propellants, to chemistry and environmental problems. The dynamic nature of his research mirrors the dynamic nature of the man.

Public Lecture: “Science and Abstract Art”
Scientific Lecture #1: “Making Easy Things Difficult and Difficult Things Easy in Chemistry”
Scientific Lecture #2: “Localized Orbital Models of Intermolecular Interactions and Reaction Mechanisms Applied to the Colors of Iodine and Organic Solvent and the Electrolysis of Aqueous Potassium Iodide”
Scientific Lecture #3: “Flames – A Demonstration Lecture”

Melvin Calvin is University Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and former Director of the laboratory of Chemical Biodynamics and former associate Director of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. His research has yielded important discoveries over broad areas of physical, organic and biological chemistry, from metal-organic chemistry, chemical evolution, photosynthesis, bioenergetics, chemical and viral carcinogenesis, neurobiology, and solar energy. His numerous honors include the Nobel prize in chemistry in 1961 for his work on photosynthesis. Active in many professional societies, Calvin served as President of the American Society of Plant Physiologists (1963-1964) and President of the American Chemical Society (1971). He was elected to the national Academy of Sciences (U.S.), The Royal Society of London, the Japan Academy, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences, and distinguished societies of other nations. The Royal Society awarded him the Davy Medal in 1964. Other awards have included virtually every distinguished medal of the American Chemical Society, including the Priestly Medal (the highest award or the American chemical science) in 1978. He was also the recipient of the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Chemists in 1979. Recently, Calvin’s research has turned to developing the principles of photosynthesis as a renewable resource for energy and materials coupled with basic studies in solar energy research. He is using knowledge of the natural process of photosynthesis to develop artificial photosynthetic systems, mimicking the mechanisms of the green plant, to convert water into hydrogen (a potential replacement for other fuels) and oxygen. Calvin is also pioneering the concept of utilizing green plants to produce hydrocarbon-like materials of suitable molecular weight and structure for fuels and materials, including the use of genetic engineering to improve yield and quality. With his wife, Gene Elle Clavin (a botanist), he has traveled throughout the world seeking species of plant and/or trees which would be suitable candidates for energy agriculture.

Public Lecture: “Petroleum Plantations”