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The 23rd Census of the United States, Official Statistics, and the Academic Discipline of Statistics - Robert Groves
7:30 PM – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Robert M. Groves is the director of the United States Census Bureau. He will discuss the census operation and how the bureau issues official government statistics as well as how these processes differ from traditional survey statistics. Groves was previously a professor and the director of the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan and a research professor at the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland. He also served as the Census Bureau's Associate Director for Statistical Design, Methodology and Standards. His many influential publications include Survey Errors and Survey Costs and Nonresponse in Household Interview Surveys. The Wayne A. Fuller Lecture.

Drilling into Plate Boundaries: Studying Earthquakes Three Miles under the Ocean - Demian Saffer
6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Demian Saffer is an associate professor of geohydrology at Pennsylvania State University and a distinguished lecturer with the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. His research looks at the role of fluids in earthquakes, faulting, and heat transport. He has been involved in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program and is currently part of the leadership team for NanTroSEIZE, a series of drilling expeditions aimed at understanding subduction earthquakes and tectonics off of southwestern Japan. As part of this ambitious project, the team will drill several boreholes penetrating the plate boundary fault system, including one to the subduction megathrust at a depth of 6.2 km. Part of the Department of Geological & Atmospheric Sciences Distinguished Lecture Series.

Comics: An Art Form in Transition - Scott McCloud
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Illustrator Scott McCloud is known for his print and web comics, including Google Chrome, which explains the inner workings of the company's open source browser in comic form. His other creations include the 24-Hour Comic, The Morning Improv, and the 1980s series ZOT. McCloud is equally recognized for his theoretical work on how comics function as form of visual communication. His nonfiction works include Understanding Comics; Reinventing Comics, a more controversial look at the comics' revolutions in art, culture and technology; and Making Comics, which examines comics storytelling techniques. The Annual Goldtrap Lecture. No audio recording will be available for download or podcast.

Evolution and Creation: Conflicting or Compatible? Patricia Kelley
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Patricia Kelley, a Distinguished Lecturer for the Paleontological Society, seeks to bridge the divide between evolutionary science and the beliefs of the great religious traditions. Kelley is faculty in the Department of Geography and Geology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a Centennial Fellow of the Paleontological Society. She holds a PhD in geology from Harvard University. Her own research focuses on the evolution and paleoecology of Coastal Plain molluscs. She is especially interested in predator-prey interactions and their role in the evolution of snails and clams. Part of the Department of Geological & Atmospheric Sciences Distinguished Lecture Series and the Women in STEM Series.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday Celebration
4:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Musical performances and speakers celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King. Members of the group Shy of a Dozen will perform, along with the violin duo of Claire Wandro and Jordan Trachtenberg. Speakers include Religious Studies professor Mary Sawyer, Government of the Student Body President Luke Rolings and Black Student Alliance President Monae Lane. Associate Provost Dawn Bratsch-Prince will present the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Advancing One Community Awards. Birthday cake graciously donated by Campus Dining Services.

Let Freedom Ring - Carillon Concert
11:50 AM – Central Campus - A carillon concert in honor of Dr. King, with Dr. Tin-Shi Tam, carilloneur. Part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Series.

Algorithmic Thinking in Biology - Vasant Honavar
8:00 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Iowa State professor of computer science Vasant Honavar directs the university's Center for Computational Intelligence, Learning and Discovery. Much of his work is aimed at helping scientific researchers access, use and share massive amounts of data. Both NSF and NIH have funded Honavar's advances in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and bioinformatics. These include developing algorithms and software that allow researchers to integrate and analyze dissimilar forms of data and thus collaborate across organizational and disciplinary boundaries. Honavar earned his PhD in computer science and cognitive science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Sigma Xi Local Honor Lecture.

Leadership: The Art of Developing Followership - Anne Mulcahy
7:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Former CEO of Xerox, Anne Mulcahy, is board chair of Save the Children, the leading humanitarian organization working to improve the lives of children around the world. A longtime favorite on FORTUNE, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal's lists of most powerful women, Mulcahy has long been an advocate for corporate social responsibility. She speaks on how businesses can champion social causes and her own transition from the private to the public sector. Mulcahy began her career with Xerox as a field sales representative and assumed increasingly important sales and senior management positions over thirty-three-year tenure. She turned the company around from near bankruptcy when she assumed the role of CEO in 2001. She recently stepped down from her role as chairman of the board at Xerox but continues to serve on the boards at Johnson & Johnson, Target Corporation and The Washington Post Company. Fall 2010 Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics and part of the World Affairs Series.

Climate Change: Culture Change - Frances Whitehead
7:00 PM – Kocimski Auditorium, College of Design - Sculptor and artist Frances Whitehead is a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her collaborative research projects aim to engage the public on issues of sustainability. She recently founded SAIC4 - The Chicago Center for Climate and Culture, a research center focused on the cultural dimension of sustainable urbanism. She is also the founder of the ARTetal Studio, which undertakes collaborative public projects and speculative design focused on innovation, cultural change and environmental awareness. ARTetal's current initiatives include the Great Lakes Basin Phenologic Garden Project for the Chicago Park District. Whitehead holds a BFA from East Carolina State University and an MFA from Northern Illinois University. No audio recording available for download or podcast.

Chewing over the Numbers: How Food Consumption Data Are Driving Nutrition Policy - Alicia Carriquiry
7:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Alicia Carriquiry is a distinguished professor of statistics at Iowa State and a researcher whose experience covers a wide range of contemporary issues, from nutrition to ballistics, genomics to traffic safety, and forensics to women in science and engineering. She has advised the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on the design and analysis of national dietary intake surveys and helped write a report for the National Academy of Sciences that became the basis of the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Carriquiry earned her PhD in statistics and animal genetics from Iowa State. She served as an associate provost at ISU from 2000-4. College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Lecture Series.