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Biology and Medicine: Systems Approaches Transforming Health Care - Leroy Hood
5:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Biologist Leroy Hood is widely recognized for his invention of five instruments that now constitute the technological foundation for modern molecular biology and genomics. They include DNA and protein sequencers and synthesizers and the ink-jet oligonucleotide synthesizer used for deciphering the various types of biological information, such as DNA, RNA, proteins and systems. Hood's DNA sequencer, in particular, has revolutionized genomics by allowing the rapid automated sequencing of DNA, which was crucial to the mapping of the human genome. He is also coauthor of a popular book on the human genome project, The Code of Codes. Hood is the William Gates Chair of the Department of Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Washington and president and cofounder of the Institute for Systems Biology. He has an M.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology. Electrical and Computer Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series.

Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking - Chris Young
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Chef Chris Young has earned a reputation for applying science and technology in the kitchen. He opened the experimental kitchen at The Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, England, working under world-famous chef Heston Blumenthal and overseeing development of the restaurant's most innovative dishes. Young completed degrees in mathematics and biochemistry at the University of Washington and left behind his doctoral work for a job as chef at one of Seattle's top restaurants. He has written extensively on the science of food and cooking for The Fat Duck Cookbook and has published scholarly research in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and Food Science. He is coauthor of the forthcoming Modernist Cuisine, a comprehensive, illustrated six-volume set dedicated to the science and technology of cooking. Part of the National Affairs Series on Innovation.

Who Do You Say I Am? Jesus Christ as Seen through His Closest Relationships - Anne Clifford
7:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Anne Clifford is the Msgr. James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Iowa State. Her talk explores Jesus Christ's most intimate relationships in response to one of the core questions he raised in the Gospels, "Who do you say I am?" She uses contemporary biblical scholarship to show how Jesus invited his closest companions to leave conventional wisdom behind and live by an alternative wisdom, one that challenged the cultural customs and societal patterns of his day. Clifford is the author of Introducing Feminist Theology and coeditor of Christology: Memory, Inquiry, Practice. She earned her PhD from the Catholic University of America. The Msgr. James A. Supple Chair Lecture.

Science and Children: A Natural Fit - Karen Worth
7:00 PM – Reiman Ballroom South, Alumni Center - Karen Worth is a faculty member at Wheelock College, where she teaches early childhood and elementary education with a focus on science education. For many years, she directed Wheelock's Boston Public School Collaborative Programs. She has also served as an advisor to the PBS programs Curious George and The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That. Worth worked for twenty-five years as a senior research scientist at the Education Development Center, where she was the principal investigator for a range of programs focused on curriculum development, professional development, and systemic reform. They included Tool Kit for Early Childhood Science Education and the NSF-funded Connecting Science and Literacy Program. She earned her BS in biology from Radcliffe and a Master's degree from Bank Street College of Education in New York City. The Barbara E. (Mound) Hansen Lecture Series

Free Expression, the Arts, and Federal Funding - Jeff Fleming
7:00 PM – 2019 Morrill Hall - As First Amendment Day approaches ask yourself, should museums be safe and welcoming for all, or places where challenging ideas are explored? The issue becomes more heated when museums receive Federal funding. Jeff Fleming, director of the Des Moines Arts Center, will discuss the nature of free expression in the visual arts, including a personal experience where he came under scrutiny for curating a controversial exhibit. Part of the First Amendment Day Celebration.

Politics, Policy and the Reality of Leadership - Gwen Ifill
7:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Gwen Ifill is moderator and managing editor of Washington Week and senior correspondent for The PBS Newshour. She is also the author of The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. Ifill reports on a wide range of issues, from foreign affairs to U.S. politics and policies, interviewing national and international newsmakers. She has covered six presidential campaigns and moderated the vice presidential debates in 2004 and 2008. Before joining PBS, she worked as the chief congressional and political correspondent for NBC News and covered the White House and politics for The New York Times. The Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics and part of the Martin Luther King Jr Holiday Celebration.

Silence of the Songbirds - Bridget Stutchbury
6:00 PM – Gerdin Business Building Auditorium, Rm 1148 - Bridget Stutchbury studies the ecology and behavior of songbirds in North America and the New World tropics. Her 2007 book Silence of the Songbirds looks at the recent decline in migratory songbirds and the factors most threatening their extinction, from pesticides to habitat destruction and city lights to climate change. Her other books include The Bird Detective: Investigating the Secret Lives of Birds and Behavioral Ecology of Tropical Birds. Stutchbury completed her Ph.D. at Yale, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution. She is a professor in the Department of Biology at York University in Toronto, Ontario, and holds a Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology. The Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Symposium Keynote and part of the Women in STEM Series.

Fukushima: Timeline, Facts and Implications for Nuclear Power - Margaret Harding
6:00 PM – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Margaret Harding has thirty years of experience in the nuclear industry. In the aftermath of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, she has been called upon by NBC, Fox News, CNN, the New York Times, and many others to explain and help bring clarity to the situation. She was Vice President of Engineering Quality at GE Nuclear Energy and is now a consultant to the nuclear power industry where she advises clients on a wide variety of opportunities and issues. She serves on Iowa State's Engineering College Industrial Advisory Council and has an undergraduate degree from Iowa State.

On Leadership - Gloria Gibson
8:00 PM – Benton Auditorium, Scheman Building - Gloria J. Gibson was named executive vice president and provost at the University of Northern Iowa effective July 1, 2009. Gibson was formerly the dean of the College of Humanities & Social Sciences and a professor in the Department of English, Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Arkansas State University. She earned her doctorate in folklore, with an ethnomusicology concentration from Indiana University. She also has PhD minors in Afro-American studies and African studies. Part of the Martin Luther King Jr Holiday Series and the Women's Leadership Series.

Making Poverty History: Lessons from Farming Families in Mali - Scott Lacy
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Scott Lacy moved to Mali in 1994 as a Peace Corps volunteer, returned in 2002 as a Fulbright scholar, and continues to work extensively in the West African country. Lacy's nonprofit, African Sky, emerged from a project to build a three-room schoolhouse in his rural host village. The community development organization has service programs in education, community health, food security, and community arts in Mail, with a focus on sustainability living. At Emory and Fairfield Universities, Scott Lacy has researched such issues as sustainable development, food production, and the intellectual property rights associated with participatory plant breeding. He earned his PhD in anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he taught in the Department of Black Studies as a Faculty Fellow. Part of Poverty Awareness Week and the Live Green! Sustainability Series.