Campus Life

Peter Hudson to deliver 2019 Mark Luchinsky Memorial Lecture on Jan. 28

Penn State biology professor to discuss the threat of global diseases

Peter Hudson, Willaman Professor of Biology in the Eberly College of Science, will be featured at the annual Mark Luchinsky Memorial Lecture on Jan. 28 at Palmer Lipcon Auditorium. Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Peter Hudson, Willaman Professor of Biology in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State, will present “One Health, One Planet: Building Global Health Security Against Infectious Diseases” as part of the 24th annual Mark Luchinsky Memorial Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, in the Palmer Musuem of Art's Palmer Lipcon Auditorium.

The event is free and open to the public, although attendees are required to RSVP, as seating is limited. Free tickets are available online at https://www.shc.psu.edu/life/programs/luchinsky/current.cfm.

The Luchinsky Memorial Lecture Series was endowed by family and friends to honor the memory of Mark Luchinsky through the support of a speaker who exemplifies intellectual honesty, personal integrity and joy in learning. The 24th annual event is sponsored by the Schreyer Honors College, the Presidential Leadership Academy, and the Schreyer Honors College Student Council.

Hudson, who served for the last 12 years as the director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences before stepping down on Jan. 1, is also an adjunct professor at the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology in Tanzania. He championed the development of a new global health laboratory to solve pressing disease issues of the day that threaten global health security and has published more than 200 scientific papers and four books on the ecology of infectious disease while working with partners around the world.

His lecture will address the global challenges of emerging diseases such as Ebola, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and the Hendra virus and how these diseases can affect both low-income and developed nations.

“'One Health' is the idea that the future health of humanity is dependent on the health of the environment and our livestock, and if we can look after those, our health will be assured,” Hudson said. “It’s basically a triangle; our health interacts with that of the environment and with that of the livestock.”

About the Mark Luchinsky Memorial Lecture

Luchinsky was a Schreyer Scholar and biochemistry major who died in 1995 at the age of 20. A native of Pittsburgh who graduated first in his class from Thomas Jefferson High School, he was a member of the Penn State Golden Key Society and the Alpha Epsilon Delta Premedical Honor Society. Known for his intellectual honesty and integrity, Luchinsky enjoyed the study of all subjects and loved the classics, sports, poetry, history and geography.

Past Luchinsky lecturers have included Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach For All and Teach For America; Sean Misko, special adviser to the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan; and Schreyer Scholar alumna Mary Beth Long, former U.S. assistant secretary of defense. Additional information about the Mark Luchinsky Lecture and a list of previous speakers is available at https://www.shc.psu.edu/life/programs/luchinsky/.

The Schreyer Honors College promotes academic excellence with integrity, the building of a global perspective, and creation of opportunities for leadership and civic engagement. Schreyer Honors Scholars total more than 1,900 students at University Park and 20 Commonwealth campuses. They represent the top 2 percent of students at Penn State who perform well academically and lead on campus.

For additional information about the event, contact Donna L. Meyer, director of student programs, at 814-863-2636 or dlh15@psu.edu.

Last Updated January 9, 2019