Rudin Lecture by Lawrence Krauss Still on for Tonight at 5:30PM

Lawrence M. Krauss, Ph.D., the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, Professor of Astronomy, and Chair of the Physics Department at Case Western Reserve University, will deliver The Jack and Lewis Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholars Lecture at Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) on Tuesday, March 1st at 5:30pm. 

The lecture, entitled “Politics vs. Science from the White House to the Classroom” will take place in the College’s Theresa Lang Theatre.

Lawrence M. Krauss, Ph.D. is an internationally known theoretical physicist with wide research interests, including the interface between elementary particle physics and cosmology. His studies include the early universe, the nature of dark matter, general relativity and neutrino astrophysics and have included an investigation of questions ranging from the nature of exploding stars to issues of the origin of all mass in the universe. Born in New York City, Prof. Krauss’s family moved shortly thereafter to Toronto, Canada, where he grew up. He received undergraduate degrees in both Mathematics and Physics from Carleton University and his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1982), and then joined the Harvard Society of Fellows (1982-85). He was a member of the faculty in the departments of Physics and Astronomy at Yale University from 1985 through 1993, when he was named the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, Professor of Astronomy, and Chairman of the department of Physics at Case Western Reserve University. 

Prof. Krauss is the author of over 200 scientific publications, as well as numerous popular articles on physics and astronomy. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his research and writing, including the Gravity Research Foundation First Prize Award (1984), and the Presidential Investigator Award (1986). In February 2000, in Washington D.C., Krauss was awarded the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences 1999-2000 Award for the Public Understanding of Science and Technology. Previous awardees include Carl Sagan and E.O. Wilson. In 2001 he was awarded the Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society “for outstanding contributions to the understanding of the early universe, and extraordinary achievement in communicating the essence of physical science to the general public.” Previous awardees include Stephen W. Hawking, and Kip S. Thorne. In 2001 the American Institute of Physics awarded Prof. Krauss the Andrew Gemant Award, given annually to “a person who has made significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimensions of physics”. Previous awardees include Freeman Dyson, Steven Weinberg, and Stephen Hawking. Prof. Krauss was also awarded the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award in 2002 for his book Atom. In August of 2003, Krauss was awarded the Oersted Medal, the highest award of the American Association of Physics Teachers, for his contributions to the teaching of physics. Previous awardees include Richard Feynman, I.I. Rabi, Edward Purcell, and Hans Bethe. With this award, Krauss becomes the first physicist to have been awarded major recognition by the APS, the AIP, and the AAPT. 

Krauss has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and in June 2003 was awarded an honorary D.Sc. degree from Carleton University in recognition of his scientific contributions and his efforts at public understanding of science. 

Prof. Krauss is an acclaimed teacher and lecturer with vast experience in reaching out to popular audiences. He was named a Sigma-Xi national lecturer in 1990 and an American Physical Society Centennial Lecturer in 1998. University named Lectureships he has held include the Nesbitt Lectureship at Carleton University, the Glover Lectureship at Dickenson College, the Chesley Lectureship at Carleton College, the Herzfeld Lectureship at Catholic University, the Hendrik de Waard Lecture at the University of Groningen, the Vaden Miles Lectureship at Wayne State University, the Maurer Lectureship at University of Arkansas, the Benedum Lectureship at West Virginia University, the Kallen Lectureship in Lund, Sweden, the Lawrence Centenary Lectureship at Berkeley, the Milton Freshman Lectureship at Syracuse, the Chancellor’s Lectureship at Vanderbilt, and the Hamilton Lectureship at Princeton. In addition, he has lectured to popular audiences at such places as the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Natural History in New York and appears frequently on radio and television around the world, as well as being a regular contributor to various newspapers and magazines including The New York Times. He has also lectured to both high school and elementary school students and their teachers and has, as well, taught courses at all university levels. He also works with various science museums and has served on advisory boards and boards of trustees of the Great Lakes Science Center, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the newly created Science Fiction Experience in Seattle. 

Prof. Krauss is the author of several acclaimed popular books, including, The Fifth Essence: The Search for Dark Matter in the Universe (Basic Books, 1989), which was named Astronomy Book of the Year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and Fear of Physics (Basic Books, 1993), now translated into 12 languages. For this book, he was a finalist for the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award. His next book, The Physics of Star Trek, was released in November of 1995 and sold over 200,000 copies in the U.S. It was a national bestseller, a selection of 5 major book clubs, including Book of the Month Club, and was serialized in the November 1995 issue of Wired. It was widely praised, reviewed by the major media, and is being translated into 13 languages, and was the basis of a BBC TV production. A U.S. television production, to be narrated by Prof. Krauss, is currently planned. The U.K. version became a top-ten bestseller shortly after its release in May 1996. His book, Beyond Star Trek, appeared in November 1997 and has appeared in 5 foreign editions. Quintessence: The Mystery of the Missing Mass, a revision and update of The Fifth Essence, appeared in February 2000. His most recent book is entitled, Atom: An Odyssey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth… and Beyond, and was released in April 2001. Public Television is currently undertaking to produce a 5-part TV series, hosted by Krauss, to be based on this book. Prof. Krauss is also preparing a new Introductory Physics text for non-science majors and a new popular book entitled Hiding in the Mirror

About The Jack and Lewis Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program 
The Jack and Lewis Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program was established at Marymount Manhattan in 2000 through a grant from the Rudin Family Foundation. Both Jack and the late Lewis Rudin have been well known throughout the New York community for the contributions they have made to living and working in New York and for their generous support of education, health, the arts and numerous other civic, religious and cultural organizations. Marymount Manhattan is honored to be the recipient of this special grant. This lecture builds upon the College’s commitment to academic excellence, community outreach and its distinctive undergraduate program in the liberal arts.

Because seating is limited, reservations are required for the lecture at 5:30pm in the Theresa Lang Theatre. To RSVP, please call (212) 517-0473.

Published: March 01, 2005