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A Lifetime of Chemistry: Reflections of a Nobel Laureate - Richard Schrock
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Richard Schrock received the 2005 Nobel Laureate Prize in Chemistry for his work on metathesis, a process now widely used in the development of pharmaceuticals and in the manufacture of advanced plastic materials. Specifically, Schrock discovered a metal-compound catalyst that triggers metathesis, a chemical reaction that breaks and reconstructs the bonds between carbon atoms and the clusters the atoms form. His work was an important advancement in "green chemistry" as a method that reduces potentially hazardous waste through smarter production. Schrock earned a PhD from Harvard University, did postdoctoral work at Cambridge, and joined the faculty at MIT in 1975. He is has held the position of Frederick G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry at MIT since 1989. The 2011 Iowa State Presidential Lectureship in Chemistry.

Debunking Myths on Immigration - Geofrey Fisher
3:00 PM – 3558 Memorial Union - Learn common myths about undocumented youth and current immigration policy. Geofrey Fisher is a project coordinator with the Iowa Immigration Education Coalition. IEC is a multi-perspective group of business, labor, civil rights, religious, immigrant, education, social service, government, and other community leaders united for the purpose of providing Iowans with relevant and timely information about immigration issues and their impact on Iowans and their communities.

Arab Voices: What They Are Saying to Us and Why it Matters - James Zogby
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - James J. Zogby is author of the newly released Arab Voices: What They Are Saying to Us and Why it Matters as well as What Ethnic Americans Really Think and What Arabs Think. He is the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI) and cofounded several other organizations serving the Arab American community, including the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and Save Lebanon, a private non-profit, humanitarian relief organization. Following the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord in Washington Zogby served as copresident of Builders for Peace, a private-sector committee to promote U.S. business investment in the West Bank and Gaza. He writes a weekly column on U.S. politics, "Washington Watch," for the major newspapers of the Arab world. Part of the World Affairs Series.

From Idea to Novel: A Writer and Activist at Work - Rick Bass
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Author and environmentalist Rick Bass is the author of more than twenty books, including the autobiographical Why I Came West and the short story collection The Lives of Rocks. A Texan by birth, Bass worked as a gas and oil geologist in Mississippi after earning a degree from Utah State University. His career as an author grew out of a pastime of writing short stories during his lunch breaks. In 1987 Bass moved to the Yaak Valley in the northern Rockies, where he has been active in protecting the land from roads and logging and serves on the board of the Yaak Valley Forest Council and Round River Conservation Studies. His first short story collection, The Watch, set in Texas, won the PEN/Nelson Algren Award; and his 2002 collection, The Hermit's Story, was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. His latest novel, Nashville Chrome, draws on the rise and fall of the Brown trio, the true-life country music trailblazers who pioneered the 1950s sound from which the novel takes its title.

Putting Labels Aside: Not Left, Not Right, Just Forward - John Avlon
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - John Avlon is a founding leader of No Labels, an organization of citizens who are asking their leaders to put labels aside and do what is best for America. John Avlon was the youngest and longest-serving speechwriter in Mayor Giuliani's City Hall. After the attacks of September 11th, 2001, he and his team were responsible for writing the eulogies for all firefighters and police officers lost at the World Trade Center. He is senior political columnist for The Daily Beast, a CNN contributor, and the author of Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America as well as Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics.

Exercise is Medicine - Steven Blair
7:00 PM – Bessie Myers Auditorium, Mary Greeley Medical Center, 1111 Duff Ave - Steven Blair is a recognized authority on exercise and its health benefits. He is coauthor of Fitness after 50, Active Living Every Day, and Physical Activity and Health and was the senior scientific editor for the first U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health. He has done extensive research using the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, which examines the impact of diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors on mortality. Blair is currently on the faculty at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health, where he holds joint appointments in the Department of Exercise Science and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Prior to that, he was a researcher and then president and CEO of the Cooper Institute, a nonprofit research and education center recognized as a leader in exercise science. The 2010-11 Helen LeBaron Hilton Chair in Human Sciences. The Bessie Myers Auditorium is located near the North Entrance of Mary Greeley Medical Center.

Courage to Stand - Tim Pawlenty
11:00 AM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is credited with balancing Minnesota's budget three times without raising taxes, despite record budget deficits. During his two terms in office he approved new benefits for veterans and members of the military, enacted a property tax cap, reformed the way teachers are paid through a performance pay plan, instituted free-market health care reforms, and mandated an increase use of renewable sources. Pawlenty served ten years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, including four years as House Majority Leader. He earned a law degree from the University of Minnesota and has practiced law in the private sector. His new biography is titled Courage to Stand.

Fighting Hunger: A DNA Engineer’s Path to Science and Success - Charles Stewart, Jr.
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Charles Stewart, Jr., is a research associate at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where he works to understand how plant enzymes make an array of chemicals important to medicine and agriculture. Using the 3D protein structure as a roadmap, he studies the evolution of protein function and how proteins can be engineered to improve the quality and quantity of the world's food supply. Stewart was the first graduate of Science Bound, Iowa State's program to increase the number of ethnically diverse Iowa youth pursuing science, technology, engineering and math careers. He earned a degree in agricultural biochemistry from Iowa State in 2000 and was a member of the George Washington Carver Internship Program. He also served as National President of the Society for Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences. Stewart went on to earn a PhD in plant biology from Cornell University.

The Caucus Cup: ISU College Republicans v. ISU Democrats - A Debate
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - The ISU Democrats will debate the College Republicans on an issue of the day for the chance at the Caucus Cup. The winner claims the trophy for a year and will defend the Cup at the 2012 First Amendment Day celebration. This year's issue is the enactment of laws limiting gun ownership. The College Republicans are led by Logan Pals. The ISU Democrats are led by Patrick Thomas. Tom Beell, professor in broadcast journalism, will moderate. The judges are Jean Goodwin, English Department; Dick Doak, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication; and Charles Dobbs, History Department. The First Amendment Day Committee will also present the "Champion of the First Amendment Award." Part of the 2011 First Amendment Day Celebration.

Turkish Foreign Policy: An Update - Fatih Yildiz
7:00 PM – Pioneer Room, Memorial Union - Fatih Yildiz is the Consul General of Turkey in Chicago, a position to which he was appointed in September 2010. His diplomatic career has included service as First Secretary and Counselor at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C.; with the Permanent Delegation of Turkey to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe; and at the Turkish Embassy in Sarajevo. Yildiz joined the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994 as an attach at the Deputy General Directorate for Balkan Affairs. He has also held positions in the Cabinet of the Undersecretary and, most recently, as director of the Department of Human Resources. He earned his degree in International Relations from Middle East Technical University in Ankara.