 |
     |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Is Featured Speaker for 75th Anniversary of Five College Chemistry Lecture Series View poster (252K PDF file) A little known fact: The Five College Lecture Series in Chemistry outdates any other form of collaboration among the schools. In fact, it's older than the consortium that has helped to support it for the past 40 years. Established in 1931, the series has a proud tradition of attracting some of the most prominent chemists in the world to serve as speakers. Of the sixty-four speakers the series has had to date, thirteen have been Nobel Laureates. This year is no exception. To mark the 75th anniversary of the series, the chemistry departments will host three talks on March 29 and 30 by the distinguished chemist F. Sherwood Rowland of the University of California at Irvine. Rowland shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1995 with Paul J. Crutzen and Mario J. Molina "for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone." Following the traditional format, each campus takes a turn at inviting the speaker and making arrangements for the lectures. That task fell this year to the Department of Chemistry at Amherst College. "There was a special air of excitement in making the arrangements this year," noted Joseph Kushick, Chair of the Amherst chemistry faculty. In keeping with tradition, there will be three lectures at three different campuses, with Amherst hosting the final talk in the series. Each lecture, Kushick explains, is pitched to a different level of audience. The March 29 lecture at Hampshire, entitled "The Air Around Us," for example, will be geared to an undergraduate audience with a general background in science. The lecture at UMass Amherst on March 30 on the topic "Pollution, Both Urban and Long Range," will be appropriate, Kushick says, for a graduate level audience. Rowland's talk at Amherst, also on March 30, will be on "Global Warming and the Antarctic Ozone Hole," an issue that, Kushick notes, is much in the news these days and should have broad appeal for a general audience. "A substantial portion of the chemistry faculty and students from all five institutions turn out for this event," notes Dula Amarasiriwardena, who teaches chemistry at Hampshire College. He and Kushick characterize it as one of the major forms of interaction and "one of the most important continuing cooperative events" among the chemistry faculties. "It plays such a key role in fostering discussion among the departments," says Amarasiriwardena, "and also gives students a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with a chemist who is known for having made groundbreaking contributions to the field." The lectures are free and open to the public. March 29
March 30
Posted 3/10/06
Home
| About
Us |
Academic
Programs |
Administrative
Programs ©2003
Five Colleges, Inc. | 97 Spring Street, Amherst MA 01002 | 413.256.8316 |
