Symposium honors 50 years of NSF
A special symposium to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Science Foundation (NSF), will be from 1 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 9 in A102 Physics/Astronomy. Sponsored by the Offices of the President and Provost, the symposium features a number of presentations on NSF-sponsored research. The agency’s director, Rita Colwell - a UW alumna - will attend. She is the recipient of the University’s Alumna Summa Laude Dignata Award.
“When President McCormick announced the Conversation About the Future last fall, we wanted to sponsor an event that would showcase the significant research that has been done on this campus,” said Vice Provost for Research Alvin Kwiram. “When we learned that Rita Colwell would be here, it seemed natural to invite her to be part of it and to focus on NSF-sponsored research.”
Kwiram said the stability and continuity of NSF funding has contributed greatly to achieving significant results. He cited the example of UW Physics Professor Emeritus Hans Dehmelt, whose work led to a Nobel Prize in Physics. “He enjoyed sustained funding from NSF over several decades.”
The first part of the symposium will be short talks summarizing UW research in various fields. Twenty-minute presentations begin at 1 p.m. with Tom Daniel and Lynn Riddiford, zoology, speaking on Merging Computers and Biology - Conceptually and Physically. David Boulware, physics, will present Precision Atomic Physics at the University of Washington, and Buddy Ratner, bioengineering, will talk about The Tinman and the Scarecrow: A Biomaterials Analysis. Angela Ginorio, women studies, will discuss On Being First: Rural Girls in Science, while Craig Hogan, astronomy and physics, talks about The Cosmic Web. Ed Lazowska, computer science and engineering, will present Connecting the Pacific Northwest: NSF Networking Initiatives.
In a 3:30 p.m. talk entitled The Wellspring of Discovery, Colwell discusses the NSF’s role over its 50-year history.
The day concludes with the Science Forum Colloquium by Bertil Hille, physiology and biophysics. The colloquium itself is one of a series of more in-depth talks about a researcher’s own work. Set for 4:10 p.m., it is called Mental Messages: What are the Workhorse Signal Systems that Make a Brain?
The symposium is free and open to the public. “I think it’s going to be an exciting event,” Kwiram said. “It will give people a glimpse of the breadth and diversity of the research that has been sponsored by NSF and by extension the broad array of research across campus funded by many sources.” ¶