Dr. Bruce Alberts, a former president of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and Professor Emeritus of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, will give two lectures on May 20 and 21, 2010, as part of the Special Lecture series at Academia Sinica. The lectures entitled “Biology Past and Biology Future: Where have we been and where are we going?” and “Science and the World’s Future” will be held at National Taiwan University and Academia Sinica respectively. Members of the media are welcome to attend.
Dr. Alberts is a prominent biochemist with a strong commitment to the improvement of science education, having served as the President of the US NAS for two consecutive terms from 1993 to 2005. During his tenure at the NAS, Dr. Alberts was instrumental in developing the National Science Education Standards that have been implemented in the US school systems. He is also noted as one of the original authors of Molecular Biology of the Cell, a pre-eminent textbook in the field now in its fifth edition. His current positions include the editor-in-chief of the top international scientific journal Science, and co-chair of the InterAcademy Council, an international science and engineering advisory body founded by the InterAcademy Panel and governed by the presidents of 15 science academies from around the world. In addition, he was appointed as a United States Science Envoy in 2009.
Dr. Alberts is well recognized for his work in biochemistry and molecular biology, particularly for his extensive study of the protein complexes that allow chromosomes to be replicated, as required for a living cell to divide. After receiving his Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard University in 1965, Dr. Alberts held several distinguished positions at Princeton University between 1966 and 1976, including the Damon Pfeiffer Professor of Life Sciences of the Department of Biochemical Sciences. He moved to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 1976, where he held several appointments in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics until his election as NAS President in 1993. He resumed his post at the UCSF in 2005.
Dr. Alberts has earned many honors and awards. He is a member and former president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and a member the American Society for Cell Biology, the American Society for Microbiology, the Genetics Society of America, Sigma Xi (The Scientific Research Society), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has served on the advisory boards of more than 30 nonprofit institutions including current positions as a Trustee of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and a member of the Advisory Board of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Dr. Alberts will visit Taiwan from May 19 to May 22. Aside from his lectures, during his stay, Dr. Alberts will also visit the laboratories of the Genomics Research Center at Academia Sinica on May 21. He previously visited Academia Sinica as the NAS President in 1997.
Related website:
http://iao.sinica.edu.tw/index.htm
http://biochemistry.ucsf.edu/labs/alberts/
Online Registration:
https://db1x.sinica.edu.tw/ASL/registerA.php?no=7
Event:
Special Lecture by Dr. Bruce Alberts
Lecture A
Title: Biology Past and Biology Future: Where have we been and where are we going?
Time: 10:30 – 12:00
Date: Thursday, May 20, 2010
Venue: International Conference Hall, GIS NTU Convention Center
Speaker: Dr. Bruce Alberts, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco
Moderator: Dr. Si-Chen Lee, President, National Taiwan University
Lecture B
Title: Science and the World’s Future
Time: 10:30 – 12:00
Date: Friday, May 21, 2010
Venue: International Conference Hall, 3F, Building for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica
Speaker: Dr. Bruce Alberts, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco
Moderator: Dr. Yuan-Tseh Lee, President Emeritus, Academia Sinica
