September 25, 2011 Betty Seaman
“Earth Construction and the Environment” October 30. 2011 Bill Poett
“Motivation and Inspiration in Peak Performers”
December 4, 2011 Diego Marcogliese ’13, Short Presentation, “A Journey in Argentina:
Knowledge Exchange and Travel in Latin America”
Savannah Bryant ’12, Cosby Fellow Presentation, “All Hands on Deck: Exploring the Oceanography and Biology of the California Coast”
February 26, 2012 * Daniel Miller (Roda Group)
"Boom or Bust? Climate Change Risks and Opportunities"
April 15, 2012 * Twelfth Annual Mason Willrich ’50 Lecture on Environmental Issues
Dr. James L. Powell
“Global Warming: Thinking it Through”
May 20, 2012 * Ed Carpenter ’64
“Addressing the Heart, the Eyes, and then the Mind: Forty Years of Solving Problems and Finding Inspiration in Public Art”
TBA Faculty Lectures:
Don and Jill Redl: China
Derek Harwell ’88: Alaska to Baja
* Abstracts and Profiles of Guest Speakers for Winter and Spring
Daniel Miller (Roda Group)
"Boom or Bust? Climate Change Risks and Opportunities"
Climate change presents huge risks, yet we are currently failing to address what is a near-term threat to life as we know it. As an investor in clean fuels, Miller posits that renewable technologies and other "cleantech" opportunities can create the mother of all economic booms. Which will it be? Why do we fail to act? What do we need to do to follow the right path? Miller will lay out an updated version of his presentation that has been viewed more than 90,000 times online.
Dan Miller is Managing Director of The Roda Group, a venture capital group focused on clean technology companies. Miller serves on the board of biofuel manufacturer Solazyme, a Roda Group affiliate, and he was previously the president of Ask Jeeves, Inc., a former Roda Group affiliate company. Miller co-founded TCSI corporation, which became a leading provider of telecommunications software. Before that, he designed communication satellite payloads at Hughes Aircraft (now Boeing) Space & Communications. He received his BS degree from Cornell and his MS from Stanford. Miller is a leading speaker on the urgent need to address climate change He has given talks around the world including at the COP15 conference in Copenhagen. He is a member of Board of Directors of Climate Healers, a group dedicated to deploying solar cooking stoves in developing countries. Miller is also a member of The Climate Project. You can learn more about climate change and his activities at his Climate Place web site. Miller is co-author of a paper about climate change that was published in the journal Oceanography.
Willrich Speaker Dr. James L. Powell, Executive Director, National Physical Science Consortium, USC – RAN
"Global Warming: Thinking it Through"
Scientists tell us that global warming is real, caused by humans, and dangerous. Many members of the public and a majority of the US House of Representatives disagree. Who is right and how can we be reasonably sure they are right? By applying our critical thinking skills, we can answer these questions.
Dr. James L. Powell was born in Berea, Kentucky and graduated from Berea College with a degree in Geology. He holds a Ph.D. in Geochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and several honorary degrees, including Doctor of Science degrees from Berea College and from Oberlin College. He taught Geology at Oberlin College for over 20 years. He served as Acting President of Oberlin, President of Franklin and Marshall College, President of Reed College, President of the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, and President and Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Powell currently serves as Executive Director of the National Physical Science Consortium. President Reagan and later, President George H. W. Bush, both appointed Powell to the National Science Board, where he served for 12 years. Asteroid 1987 SH7 is named for him. He has authored eight books.
Ed Carpenter '64, Internationally Renowned Artist
"Addressing the Heart, the Eyes, and then the Mind: Forty Years of Solving Problems and Finding Inspiration in Public Art"
Ed Carpenter will discuss selections from his public artworks on several continents, ranging from monumental stained glass to sculpture for government and corporate buildings to designs for highway and pedestrian bridges. He will show images describing the entire creative process from sketching through computer modeling, mock-ups, fabrication, and installation, with stories of a few surprises along the way.
Ed Carpenter is an artist specializing in large-scale public installations ranging from architectural sculpture to infrastructure design. Since 1973 he has completed scores of projects for public, corporate, and ecclesiastical clients. Working internationally from his studio in Portland, Oregon, USA, Carpenter collaborates with a variety of expert consultants, sub-contractors, and studio assistants. He personally oversees every step of each commission, and installs them himself with a crew of long-time helpers, except in the case of the largest objects, such as bridges. While an interest in light has been fundamental to virtually all of Carpenter's work, he also embraces commissions that require new approaches and skills. This openness has led to increasing variety in his commissions and a wide range of sites and materials. Recent projects include interior and exterior sculptures, bridges, towers, and gateways. His use of glass in new configurations, programmed artificial lighting, and unusual tension structures have broken new ground in architectural art. He is known as an eager and open-minded collaborator as well as technical innovator. Carpenter is grandson of a painter/sculptor, and stepson of an architect, in whose office he worked summers as a teenager. He studied under artists in England and Germany during the early 1970's. Information on his projects and a video about his methods can be found at: http://www.edcarpenter.net/home/home.html.