Prominent scholars, including two Nobel Laureates, will present lectures during the Institute for Advanced Study Symposium
COLLEGE STATION – Twenty-one of the world's most celebrated scholars—including two recipients of the Nobel Prize in physics—will share their insights in genomics, medicine, literature, physics and information technology during a Feb. 22-24 symposium presented by the Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University.
The symposium will offer five sessions over two-and-a-half days, beginning with an official welcome from The Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, in the Hawking Auditorium of the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, 576 University Dr., on Texas A&M's main campus.
During the symposium's third session on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 23, University President Michael K. Young and A&M System Regent Robert L. Albritton will provide welcoming remarks.
"We launched the Institute for Advanced Study in 2010 on the premise that the finest universities in the world have access to the finest minds in the world," Founding Director John L. Junkins said. "This symposium is a clear reflection of that premise. We are bringing a collection of the world's finest minds to College Station with the goal of inspiring our amazing students and our stellar faculty to even greater academic heights."
Among the presenters are 11 Faculty Fellows from the Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University. They are, in order of appearance: Manfred Schartl, Richard Gibbs, Robert Levine, Wolfgang Schleich, Roy Glauber, Robert Calderbank, Ingrid Daubechies, Maryellen Giger, Alan Needleman and Susan Suleiman.
Admission is free and open to the general public.
1:30 to 4:50 p.m. – Genetics and Medicine: Manfred Schartl, professor and chairman, Physiological Chemistry Biocenter, Medical School, University of Würzburg, Germany; Richard Gibbs, founding director, Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine; James E. Womack, University Distinguished Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M; and Arthur L. Beaudet, professor of molecular and human genetics and pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital.
8:30 a.m. to noon – Literary Democracy: Robert S. Levine, Distinguished Professor of English, University of Maryland; Ed Folsom, Roy J. Carver Professor of English, University of Iowa; Wai Chee Dimock, William Lampson Professor of English and American Studies, Yale University; and Jerome Loving, University Distinguished Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M.
1:30 to 3:10 p.m. – The Nobel Foundation Celebrates Quantum Mechanics: Girish Agarwal, professor, Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Texas A&M; Wolfgang Schleich, Distinguished Professor of quantum physics, University of Ulm, Germany; and Marlan Scully, University Distinguished Professor, Institute of Quantum Science and Engineering, Texas A&M.
3:50 to 5 p.m. – Special Physics Colloquium, featuring two recipients of the Nobel Prize in physics: David Lee, University Distinguished Professor of physics and astronomy, College of Science, Texas A&M and Roy Glauber, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics Emeritus, Harvard University and Eminent Scholar in Residence and visiting professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M.
8:30 a.m. to noon – Information and Computation, Tools for Better Living: Robert Calderbank, director of the Information Initiative and professor of mathematics and electrical engineering, Duke University; Ingrid Daubechies, James B. Duke Professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University; Maryellen L. Giger, A. N. Pritzker Professor of Radiology/Medical Physics, The University of Chicago; and Alan Needleman, TEES Distinguished Research Professor, College of Engineering and College of Science, Texas A&M.
1:30 to 4 p.m. – Writing in Dark Times: Susan Suleiman, C. Douglas Dillon Research Professor of the Civilization of France and research professor of comparative literature, Harvard University; Maurice Samuels, Betty Jane Anlyan Professor of French, Yale University; Lynn Higgins, Edward Tuck Professor of French and professor of comparative literature and film studies, Dartmouth College; and Henry Rousso, director of research, French National Center for Scientific Research, Paris.
About the Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University: The Institute for Advanced Study was established in December 2010 by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents to build on the growing academic reputation of Texas A&M and to provide a framework to attract top scholars from throughout the nation and abroad for appointments of up to a year. The selection of Faculty Fellows initiates with faculty nominations of National Academies and Nobel Prize-caliber scholars who align with existing strengths and ambitions of the University. To learn more, visit http://tias.tamu.edu
About Research at Texas A&M University: As one of the world's leading research institutions, Texas A&M is at the forefront in making significant contributions to scholarship and discovery, including that of science and technology. Research conducted at Texas A&M represented annual expenditures of more than $892 million in fiscal year 2016. Texas A&M ranked in the top 20 of the National Science Foundation's Higher Education Research and Development survey (2015), based on expenditures of more than $866 million in fiscal year 2015. Texas A&M's research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting, in many cases, in economic benefits to the state, nation and world. To learn more, visit https://research.tamu.edu.