Lectures
Penn State Intercom......March
6, 2003
Astronaut-alum to talk
about aerospace industry
Guion S. Bluford Jr., vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman, will deliver the Penn State Forum lecture at noon Friday, March 21, at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on the University Park campus.
The topic of his presentation is "America's Aerospace Industry."
In addition to serving as a vice president at Northrop Grumman, Bluford is program manager of the NASA Glenn Research Center, Microgravity Research, Development and Operations Contract.
Bluford, a Penn State alumnus, was a NASA mission specialist and payload commander astronaut on four space shuttle missions.
The Penn State Forum is a lunchtime speaker series offered by the Faculty Staff Club and is sponsored in part by the Penn State Bookstore. It is open to the public. Tickets are $10 for members and $12 for non-members and include lunch. Reservations can be made by mail or by stopping by the Faculty Staff Club office at 103 HUB-Robeson Center. Tickets will be on sale at the door on a first-come, first-served basis. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. followed by the speech and a question-and-answer session at noon. For information, call (814) 865-7590.
Alumni to present
Luchinsky Memorial Lecture
Douglas G. Evans, chief operating officer of Kensey Nash Corp., will present the eighth annual Luchinsky Memorial Lecture at 4 p.m. March 20 in Boardroom II of The Nittany Lion Inn, University Park. Evans will discuss "Bioengineering Breakthroughs" highlighting the instrumental research being conducted at Kensey to combat heart disease and cancer.
Kensey Nash is a medical device company that is a leader in cardiac catheterization puncture closure devices with its Angio-Seal™ device.
Evans serves as vice president on the Scholar Alumni Society Board.
The Luchinsky Memorial Lecture Series was endowed by family and friends to honor the memory of Mark Luchinsky, a University Scholar and biochemistry major who died on Jan. 18, 1995.
This event is free to the public. The lecture will be followed by a reception for students, faculty and guests in the Mount Nittany Room of the Nittany Lion Inn.
Value of faculty diversity
explored in open forum
Myra Gordon will present an open forum focusing on the value of faculty diversity in higher education from 1 to 2 p.m. Thursday, March 27, in the boardroom of The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus.
The event will be followed by a reception.
Gordon's success in diversifying the faculty at Virginia Tech, where she served as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, led her to her current position as associate provost for diversity and dual careers at Kansas State University.
The event is co-sponsored by the Commission for Women; the Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equity; the Affirmative Action Office; and the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity.
Those planning to attend the reception need to RSVP to Kathy Putt by calling (814) 863-7696 or e-mailing kmr3@psu.edu by Monday, March 17.
Weather in business
seminar set for March 27
The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, in conjunction with its alumni society, GEMS, will hold a seminar, "The Value of Meteorology to Business and Society," from 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 27, in The Nittany Lion Inn Ballroom on the University Park campus.
The seminar will focus on how industry and individuals use weather information to make business and personal decisions and to increase efficiency and quality of life. Alumni who are both producers and consumers of weather information will give presentations, and a panel discussion, moderated by dean emeritus of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences John Dutton, will follow. Speakers include: Ray Ban, vice president, The Weather Channel; Robert Landis, president, Landis Associates; Joel Myers, president, AccuWeather and member of the Board of Trustees; Jerry Sandusky, retired Penn State defensive football coordinator and founder, The Second Mile; Ed Johnstonbaugh, project coordinator, Allegheny Energy Inc.; David Donohue, president, IHRDC & Arlington; and faculty from the department of meteorology.
The seminar will conclude with a reception at 5 p.m.
For a conference agenda and more information, check the Web at http://www.ems.psu.edu/alumni/events/gems_seminar_2003.html
Chinese diaspora topic
of literature luncheon
The Comparative Literature Luncheon, a weekly informal lunchtime gathering of students, faculty and other members of the University community, has announced the next speaker in this semester's series.
Shuang Shen, assistant professor of English and faculty fellow of the Center for Critical Analysis of Contemporary Culture, Rutgers University, will speak Monday, March 17, on "Memory and the Diaspora in Ha Jin's Waiting." Shen is a specialist on cultural hybridity and the Chinese diaspora.
The events begin with lunch from 12:15 p.m. to 12:40 p.m. in 102 Kern Building on the University Park campus. Participants may bring their own lunch or buy something in Kern Cafeteria. Coffee and tea are provided. The speaker will begin at about 12:40 p.m.
The events are free to the public.
For information, e-mail Daniel Walden at dxw8@psu.edu.
Holocaust survivor will
share life story at DuBois
Holocaust survivor Nesse Godin will share her experiences of life in a Lithuanian ghetto and a Nazi concentration camp during an appearance Wednesday, March 19, at Penn State DuBois.
Godin will speak at 7 p.m. at the Hiller Building auditorium. The event is free to the public.
Godin was born in Shauliai, Lithuania, where she lived with her parents and two brothers until the Nazi invasion. She is a survivor of the Shauliai, Lithuania Ghetto, the Stutthof Concentration Camp, four labor camps and a death march. She has dedicated her adult life to teaching and sharing memories of the Holocaust.
For information, call (800) 346-ROAR or (814) 375-4766.
Speaker compares
nitrogen's effect on roots
Eric Lyons, a doctoral degree candidate in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, will make a presentation from 3:35 to 4:25 p.m. March 7 in 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building on the University Park campus.
His topic is "A Comparison of Root Distribution of Creeping Bentgrass and Poa annua in Response to High and Low Nitrogen Rates." The host for the event is the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences.
For information, call (814) 863-1601.