February 14, 2019

President’s Colloquia spring series starts Feb. 20

The President’s Colloquia for faculty are continuing this spring with three events. Hosted by President Mitch Daniels, the colloquia provide opportunities to hear faculty experts discuss their research in presentations specifically designed for non-experts on the subject matter.

The spring 2019 colloquia are scheduled for 4-6 p.m. at Westwood, the president’s home. To register or for more information, visit the President’s Colloquia webpage. In honor of Purdue’s sesquicentennial celebration, 150 Years of Giant Leaps, each of the colloquia will feature a presentation from a 150th Anniversary Professor.

The event dates and descriptions are as follows:

Feb. 20 (W)

Randy W. Roberts, distinguished professor of history, on “Writing Lives”

Roberts will discuss his career writing books about iconic Americans and events, ranging from heavyweight boxing champions Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali to basketball player Oscar Robertson, football coach Bear Bryant, baseball player Mickey Mantle, actor John Wayne and the Alamo in myth and memory. The talk will address selecting a topic, developing an approach and the writing process. It is intended for anyone interested in sports, Hollywood, celebrity culture and biographies.

March 21 (Th)

William C. Oakes, professor of engineering education, director of EPICS program, on “Community Engagement: Are We Really Making a Difference?”

A hallmark of land-grant universities is engagement, and Purdue has been a leader in engagement through extension, industry and community partnerships. One of Purdue’s more visible programs in community-engaged learning is EPICS, which brings together students from across campus to develop designs that benefit local and global partners. This year, over 1,200 students have engaged with more than 57 different community organizations and partners on over 150 projects.

EPICS also has spread far beyond Purdue, to 53 others institutions globally and to over 100 high schools and middle schools in 17 states. As the director of EPICS, Oakes will share lessons learned for effective engagement to promote student learning and sustained impact in our communities. He also will share past and current challenges, as well as information about balancing student learning, institutional structures and community impact. Oakes says he hopes to stimulate discussion about how Purdue, as a premier land-grant university, can do even more for students and the world with the resources we already have.

April 17 (W)

Erica W. Carlson, professor of physics and astronomy, on “Fractal Views on Quantum Matter”

Inside conventional materials like metals and semiconductors, electrons are evenly distributed — like liquid filling a container. But electrons inside many quantum materials act more like an exotic gumbo: Nanoscale images show that the electrons form complex shapes with interesting textures on scales of multiple lengths.

Carlson will discuss how understanding the formation of these patterns is vital to our understanding of electronic properties and to our eventual technological control of quantum matter. We have defined new paradigms for interpreting and understanding nanoscale electronic textures observed at the surface of these materials by employing theoretical tools from fractal mathematics and disordered statistical mechanics. This new conceptual framework has enabled the discovery of universal, fractal electronic textures across several types of quantum matter.

For more information, contact Robin French at 765-494-9708 or rdfrench@purdue.edu.

 


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