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Lawrence University Economist Named to National Academy of Sciences Committee Investigating Unintended Automobile Acceleration

David Gerard, associate professor of economics at Lawrence University, is participating in a National Academy of Sciences committee study reviewing evidence to identify possible causes of unintended acceleration in motor vehicles in the aftermath of Toyota’s large recalls.

The independent, 17-member Committee on Electronic Vehicle Controls and Unintended Acceleration was formed at the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to review electronic throttles and other systems used throughout the auto industry. The study is part of the federal government’s efforts to learn what led to two massive recalls in late 2009 and in January of this year.

While much of the unintended acceleration problem has been focused on Toyota, according to Administrator David Strickland, the NHTSA has received complaints related to this problem for every major vehicle manufacturer.

The National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences organized the committee and held its first meeting in March. At that meeting, the committee identified several additional areas of expertise it wanted to include and Gerard, along with three other members, were added. The committee will meet several more times, including August 2-3 in Detroit. It is expected to deliver its final report to the NHTSA by the end of June 2011.

Gerard, who joined the Lawrence faculty in 2009, specializes in risk regulations and public policy, including the interrelationships between regulations and technological change in the U.S. auto industry. He is also part of the development team for TrafficSTATS, an interactive web-based ,tool used to compare and communicate traffic safety risks.

Prior to coming to Lawrence, Gerard spent eight years on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was the executive director of the Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation in the Department of Engineering & Public Policy. Gerard blogs regularly for Lawrence students and alumni and “fellow travelers.”

Dean Pertl blogs about the connection between business and the arts

Conservatory Dean Brian Pertl has written a thought-provoking column about how Lawrence University’s education prepared him for a career in business.

Sculptor Rob Neilson Named to Endowed Professorship

Rob Neilson, associate professor of art at Lawrence University, has been named the college’s Frederick R. Layton Professor of Art. Appointments to endowed professorships recognize academic distinction through teaching excellence and/or scholarly achievement.

A member of the Lawrence art department since 2003, Neilson is a sculptor who specializes in public art and how that art engages the public and becomes part of their lives.

Working with metals, plastic, rubber and other exotic materials, Neilson has been awarded commissions for site-specific installations St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, the cities of Charlotte, N.C., and Los Angeles, Calif., and the Long Beach Transit Authority. His foam and rubber sculpture, “Two-Head Trojan Ducky” was selected in 2004 for display at Chicago’s 10th Annual Navy Pier Walk exhibition.

One of his most recent commissions involved a series of 54 cast iron masks based on digitally scanned faces of local residents Neilson created for the Los Angeles Country Metropolitan Transit Authority. The four-foot-tall masks were affixed to the canopy of one of the L.A. county light rail stations. They were formally dedicated last November.

“Rob Neilson is an enormously creative artist and a wonderful teacher,” said Provost and Dean of the Faculty David Burrows. “His large-scale works have attracted national interest and praise for their unusual style and use of novel ideas. Rob is able to see the world in new and exciting ways, and his work reflects that vision. As a teacher he works many long hours and inspires his students to accomplish things they never thought possible.”

Neilson earned a bachelor of fine arts degree at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit and a master of fine arts degree in sculpture at the University of North Carolina.

The Layton Professorship was established in 1983 in part from a trust established by the assets of the Layton School of Art and Design as well as funds raised by Lawrence.Originally designed to bring distinguished artists to campus for multiple year stays, the endowed chair now supports a permanent position in the art department.

Opening Higher Education Doors: Lawrence Hosts Pre-College Workshop for Native Americans

Lawrence University welcomes 73 Native American high school students to campus June 26-30 for a five-day, pre-college workshop coordinated by College Horizons, a New Mexico-based non-profit organization.

Lawrence is one of three host institutions in the country for the 2010 workshop. The University of Hawaii hosted a similar program last week while the University of Puget Sound will conduct a similar program at the same time as Lawrence.

College-Horizons_web Native American students from as far away as Plantation, Fla., and Battle Ground, Wash., representing 24 states and 38 tribes, will participate in an “academic crash course” designed to assist them in the college search process.

As part of the 13th annual program, a bevy of college and high school counselors, admission officers, essay specialists and other educators will be on hand to work individually with students and lead small group sessions on topics ranging from “Overview of the ACT/SAT,” “Financial Aid & Scholarships: How Can I Afford College?” and “Native Students and College.”

The goal of the workshop is to assist Native American students in developing a list of appropriate colleges to consider, prepare a winning application, write a memorable essay, maximize their ACT or SAT scores and navigate the financial aid/scholarship maze. At the end of the program, students leave with a completed college application and a list of colleges with which they are likely to be good matches.

This is the second time in three years the program has been hosted by Lawrence.

“I think College Horizons accepted our bid to host again this soon because they had such a great experience two years ago when they were here and they wanted to come back now that the Warch Campus Center is more than a construction site,” said Steve Syverson, vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid. “This program gives Lawrence some great exposure to Native American students and we’re delighted that this year we will have three College Horizons graduates in our student body.”

In addition to admissions personnel from Lawrence, representatives from more than 30 colleges and universities, including Brown, Harvard Princeton, Stanford and Yale will be available to assist the students. Following Native American tradition, an Elder from the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin will be present through the duration of the workshop. Several prominent educators from the College of Menominee Nation will be participating as well.

Since its inception, more than 1,550 students have attended College Horizons and the results have been nothing short of spectacular. Ninety-nine percent of the participants of the program have gone on to post-secondary education, including 95 percent of them to four-year colleges, with 85 percent earning their bachelors degree within five years of starting college.

Syverson noted Lawrence’s participation in the College Horizons program harkens back to the college’s founding.

“In establishing Lawrence University in 1847, Amos Lawrence stated that he wanted to provide ‘gratuitous advantage to the Indians and Germans of both sexes,’ so our involvement with College Horizons affirms part of our original mission,” said Syverson.

Six Alumni Awards for Career Achievement, Service Highlights Annual Reunion Weekend Celebration

Josh Hobson was so excited about returning to Lawrence University to attend his 10-year class reunion this weekend, he got an early start. He left April 30th…from San Francisco…on his bicycle!

The 2000 graduate expects to pedal his way on to the Lawrence campus Friday, just in time for the college’s annual Reunion Weekend Celebration activities June 18-20.

Hobson will be among 759 alumni and guests — from 40 states, England and Kenya — who will participate in the weekend-long festivities. Highlighting the weekend will be the presentation of six alumni awards for career achievement and distinguished service to the college during the annual Reunion Convocation Saturday, June 19 at 10:30 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The convocation is free and open to the public.

Starting near the Golden Gate Bridge, Hobson pointed his Trek 520 east on April 30 for a transcontinental ride that will cover nearly 4,200 miles by time he reaches his Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment in early July. He had logged just over 3,000 miles when he reached his grandmother’s house in Princeton earlier this week. Prior to this, the longest ride Hobson had ever completed was a 240-miler over two days.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do ever since I was a little kid,” said Hobson, who has maintained a blog about his adventure.

One of his tires found a wood screw just 27 miles into the ride, but since stocking up on spare tubes — he carries six of them — he has not encountered another flat tire.

He did run out of water while crossing the desert in Utah (a friendly pick-up truck driver gave him an eight-mile lift to a gas station), met a fellow biker from Africa in Nevada who also was riding across the country so they rode together for a couple of days and discovered the road he had planned to take in a part of Wyoming was completely closed for construction, leaving him with a tough choice: take a 45-mile detour or ride 11 miles on the Interstate along side tractor trailer trucks whizzing by at 80-plus miles per hour. In the interest of time, he opted for the Interstate, which turned out to be the most frightening segment of the trip to date.

“What I’m doing is ridiculous,” said Hobson, who graduated with a degree in theatre, later attended the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan where he earned a degree in culinary arts and hopes to own his own restaurant in the not-too-distant future. “But I’m also encouraging people I’m meeting along the way to get out on their own bikes as much as possible. It doesn’t have to be a 100-mile ride. Whatever you can do. It’s all about the experience.”

Joel Blahnik, long-time Wisconsin high school band director and Paul Schmidt, an Immigration Judge, won’t be returning to their alma mater on bicycles, but each will receive Lawrence’s Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award. Named in honor of the second president of Milwaukee-Downer College, the Briggs award recognizes alumni of more than 15 years for outstanding contributions to, and achievements in, a career field.

A composer, conductor, retired music educator and member of the class of 1960, Blahnik, Fish Creek, spent 32 years as band director at three different Wisconsin high schools, including Gibraltar High School, where he taught for 13 years before his retirement in 1993. His father, Arthur, a 1933 Lawrence graduate, began his own career as band director at Gibraltar High School in the 1930s.

Blahnik’s compositions have been recorded around the world and been featured at national symposiums and international festivals. He is a founding member of the Wisconsin Alliance for Composers. As band director, his student ensembles have distinguished themselves at state convention, including three performances at the celebrated Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic. He has been a long-time clinician for state adjudication workshops, related-arts festivals, music camps, and other music activities from elementary schools to world professional ensembles.

During the past 22 years, Blahnik has been heavily involved in musical activity in the Czech Republic, where he co-founded the Prague Youth Wind Ensemble Festival and serves as guest conductor for student, amateur and professional ensembles. In 1989, he established Alliance Publications, Inc., a desk-top music publishing company to promote old and new Czecho-Slovak music, as well as educational and religious music of contemporary composers.

Schmidt, Alexandria, Va., who graduated from Lawrence in 1970 with a degree in history, has served as an Immigration Judge since 2003. Prior to that appointment, he spent eight years on the Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Va., including six years as board chairman before stepping down to adjudicate cases full-time.

Earlier in his career, Schmidt served as deputy general counsel and general counsel for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, where he was instrumental in developing the rules and procedures to implement the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. He left the INS to practice business immigration law with the Washington, D.C. office of Jones, Day, Reavis, and Pogue. He later served as managing partner of the law firm Fragomen, Del Rey & Bernsen before joining the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

Schmidt has taught law at the George Mason University School of Law, authored numerous articles on immigration law and has written extensively for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

J. Thomas Hurvis, Glenview, Ill., and Joseph Kortenhof, a native of Kimberly now living in St. Louis, Mo., will receive the Gertrude B. Jupp Outstanding Service Award. The award honors Jupp, a 1918 graduate of Milwaukee-Downer College, who was named M-D Alumna of the Year in 1964 for her long volunteer service to the college. It recognizes Lawrence and Milwaukee-Downer alumni of more than 15 years who have provided outstanding service to the college.

A 1960 Lawrence graduate, Hurvis was a member of the Lawrence Board of Trustees from 1990-2002 and was elected trustee emeritus in 2003. He has served Lawrence as a class agent and More Light! campaign event volunteer as well as a member of the steering and gift committees for his 40th reunion.

He has generously supported numerous Lawrence projects and initiatives over the years, among them the Warch Campus Center, Hurvis Crossing land bridge, the Lawrence Fellows Program, the Posse Program and conservatory ensemble tours.

An advocate for education reform, Hurvis has sponsored scholarships and internships for inner city youth and serves on the board of Providence St. Mel, a private K-12 school in Chicago, a former failing inner city school that now boasts a 100% acceptance rate of its school’s graduates to four-year colleges and universities for the past 29 years. In 2009, Hurvis and his wife, Julie Esch Hurvis ’61, produced an award-winning documentary — “The Providence Effect” — to showcase the school’s success and provide a platform for a conversation about improving education in America.

He is the co-founder, president and CEO of Old World Industries, a privately-held company that markets and sells chemical products and automotive parts, including Herculiner truck bed liners, Peak antifreeze and Febreze odor eliminator in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Kortenhof served as an Alumni Trustee for 10 years and chaired his 50th Reunion Gift Committee, helping secure Lawrence’s first Reunion Class Gift of more than $1 million. He is currently a member of the 60th Reunion Steering Committee for the Class of 1950.

Ten years after graduating from Lawrence, Kortenhof co-founded and served as senior partner of the St. Louis law firm Kortenhof & Ely, which specialized in malpractice, workers compensation, civil trial practice and casualty insurance. Amnog his past clients were General Motors Corp., Freightliner Corp. and Sentry Insurance.

Kortenhof, who spent time as an adjunct professor of law at Washington University Law School, was recognized in 1990 by the Lawyers Association of St. Louis with its Award of Honor.

Andrea Powers Robertson, Chicago, Ill., and Erin Stahowiak, Chicago, Ill., both 1994 graduates, will receive the Marshall B. Hulbert Outstanding Young Alumni Service Award, which recognizes a Lawrence graduate of 15 years or less for significant service to the college. The award honors Hulbert, a 1926 Lawrence graduate known as “Mr. Lawrence,” who served the university in many significant capacities for 54 years.

Andrea-Powers-Robertson_web — Andrea Powers Robertson

Powers Robertson has served her alma mater as an employee and a volunteer. She spent six years in the alumni relations office as assistant and later associate director and also helped coach the men’s and women’s swimming teams. She has served as a career contact, admissions volunteer, Viking Gift Committee member, international student host parent, More Light! campaign volunteer, class secretary and co-chair of the steering committee for her 15th reunion. She is employed by The Field Museum of Chicago where she is the auxiliary groups manager.

Stahowiak was a member of the Lawrence University Alumni Association from 2002-2005 and has served as a career contact, an admissions volunteer, a regional event volunteer, a regional club program committee member and an alumni phonathon caller. Last December, she participated in the Shadow Chicago networking event, in which Lawrence students from the Chicago area followed alumni at their jobs during the winter break. She is currently a senior planner for McDonald’s Corporation in Oak Brook, Ill.

African Sculptures Add Artistic Interest to Lawrence Campus

A gift of 14 African sculptures — seven for Lawrence University and seven for the Appleton Art Center — from Milwaukee art gallery owner David Barnett and his wife, Susan, a 1981 Lawrence graduate, will be officially dedicated Wednesday, June 16 in private ceremonies on campus and at the ACC.

The sculptures were created by members of the Shona tribe of Zimbabwe from a variety of stones, including opal, spring and serpentine.

Several of the pieces have been donated in memory or honor of people with special ties to Lawrence, the Fox Valley community or the Barnetts. Lawrence’s seven sculptures are located in four locations on campus.

“Beggar,” a piece donated in memory of James Auer, a 1950 Lawrence graduate who was a decades-long reporter and art critic for the Milwaukee Journal and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and “Mother and Children,” donated in memory of Barnett’s parents, Philip M. and Ethel Barnett, are located along the new riverwalk nature trail behind the Warch Campus Center.

“Traditional Dancer,” dedicated to the memory of Kaitlin Mahr, a member of the class of 2009 and “African Girl,” dedicated in honor of Cory ’92 and Michelle Nettles, are in the Wriston Art Center.

“Resting Man,” dedicated to the memory of former Lawrence Professor of French Gervais Reed and “Proud of My New Hair” can be found on Hurvis Crossing over Lawe Street.

“Waving Woman,” which was carved by Colleen Madamombe, widely considered one of the top sculptors in Zimbabwe, is located in Memorial Hall.

Lawrence Supports Appleton Juneteenth Celebration Sunday, June 27

Lawrence University has joined with several other community leaders in sponsoring the city of Appleton’s first Juneteenth Celebration, a national commemoration of the abolition of slavery for African Americans.

The celebration will be held Sunday, June 27 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in Houdini Plaza in downtown Appleton. This event is free and open to the public.

Highlighting the Juneteenth Celebration will be performances by gospel musicians, the jazz band Right On, the R & B/funk/soul band Unified Soul, the reggae band Unity and live step dance performances by Kappa Alpha Psi and other Black Greek lettered organizations.

A DJ will provide music, entertainment and prize giveaways throughout the day while games, face painting and other activities will be available for children.

A pavilion featuring African clothing and vendor booths selling African American soul food and African cuisine will join with community vendors selling various food and merchandise.

From its 1865 origin in Galveston, Texas, the observance of Juneteenth as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond, becoming the oldest African American celebration in the country. Today Juneteenth is commemorated in 36 states. Gov. Doyle signed the Resolution to include Wisconsin as one of the states commemorating Juneteenth in December 2009.

Four Faculty Honored for Excellence at Commencement

Four members of the Lawrence University faculty were recognized for teaching excellence, scholarship and creative activity Sunday, June 13 during the college’s 161st commencement.

David Becker, professor of music and director of orchestral studies, received Lawrence’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, which recognizes outstanding performance in the teaching process, including the quest to ensure students reach their full development as individuals, human beings and future leaders of society.

Becker returned to the Lawrence conservatory in 2005 as director of orchestral studies after serving in the same capacity for four years early in his career in the mid-1970s. In between he held teaching positions at Oberlin College, the University of Miami and UW-Madison, where he spent 21 years as director of orchestras and professor of the graduate orchestral conducting program.

In presenting Becker his award, Lawrence President Jill Beck praised his “great skill as a master teacher.”

“Your marvelous direction of the Lawrence University Symphony Orchestra, your work with student productions such as opera and your involvement in every aspect of musical performance have had a profound effect on students, faculty and staff and the countless members of the community who have been present for the inspiring music events performed under your guidance,” said Beck. “Anyone who has attended a Lawrence Symphony Orchestra performance can sense the pride of the students and the love and respect they feel for you.”

A native of Pennsylvania, Becker earned a bachelor of music degree in viola performance and music education at Ithaca College School of Music and a master of music degree in viola performance and conducting from the University of Louisville School of Music.

Jerald Podair, professor of history and Robert S. French Professor of American Studies, received the Award for Excellence in Scholarship, which honors a faculty member who has demonstrated sustained scholarly excellence for a number of years and whose work exemplifies the ideals of the teacher-scholar.

A specialist on 20^th-century American history and American race relations, Podair joined the Lawrence faculty in 1998 as the winner of that year’s Allan Nevins Prize, an award conferred by the Society of American Historians for the best Ph.D. dissertation in history written in the country that year.

He is the author of two books, “The Strike That Changed New York: Blacks, Whites, and the Ocean Hill-Brownsville Crisis,” which examines a bitter racial controversy in New York City and “Bayard Rustin: American Dreamer,” a widely praised biography of the civil rights activist who organized Martin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington. Other recent projects include an essay on Rudolph Giuliani and New York’s racial politics and an introduction to a new edition of the classic book about the sinking of the Titanic, “A Night to Remember.”

“Your scholarly contributions to Lawrence have been outstanding,” said Beck in presenting Podair his award. “You have published two books while at Lawrence and are working on no less than three other books. Your work has been published in several important journals and has led to many awards and honors. If there is something more that you might be expected to do right now, I have no idea what that could be.”

His current scholarship includes a baseball-themed book on the cultural implications of the Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles, a book that looks at the United States from 1877 to the present entitled “American Conversations” and a collection of essays on the ways Americans have sought to define the concept of equality.

A native of New York City, Podair serves as a member of the Wisconsin Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and was named a fellow of the New York Academy of History in 2009. He earned a bachelor’s degree at New York University, a law degree from Columbia University and his Ph.D. from Princeton University.

Patrice Michaels, professor of music, received the Award for Excellence in Creative Activity. Established in 2006, the award recognizes outstanding creative work for advancing Lawrence’s mission.

An award-winning soprano, Michaels has taught vocal performance and music theatre in the Lawrence conservatory since 1994. A specialist in the works of Mozart, Michaels has performed at prestigious concert venues throughout the world, including Salzburg, Austria in 2006 for the 250th anniversary celebration of Mozart’s birth.

She is well known for her performance of “The Divas of Mozart’s Day,” a tour de force theatrical production that celebrates the divas of late 18^th-century Vienna. She has released 20 commercial recordings, among them the disc “American Songs,” which included eight world premiere recordings.

“You have been a powerful force for creative activity, both through your own work and through the inspiration you have provided to others,” said Provost David Burrows in presenting Michaels her award. “Your presence has helped many students develop their own creative abilities, helped by your supportive and friendly attention.”

In a career that has taken her to opera stages around the world, Michaels also has performed for the U.S. Supreme Court and Cuban President Fidel Castro. Most recently she has remounted an original program she first developed while at the Banff Centre for the Arts. “A Song for Harmonica,” featuring a 4-foot tall bib overall-clad puppet worked by Michaels, is a program designed for elementary school students to explore the nature of inspiration through operatic excerpts and original songs.

Michaels earned a bachelor’s degree in music and theatre from Pomona College and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Minnesota.

Dominica Chang, assistant professor of French and Francophone studies, received Lawrence’s Young Teacher Award in recognition of demonstrated excellence in the classroom and the promise of continued growth.

A member of the Lawrence faculty since 2007, Chang’s research interests include 19^th-century French studies, literary history and historiography, print culture, film studies and language pedagogy.

In presenting her award, Burrows praised Chang for her “extraordinary success” in the classroom and for being a “wonderful example of the concept of individualized learning.”

“Students speak with enthusiasm about your ability to inspire everyone to learn and reach the highest levels of achievement,” said Burrows. “Your patience and warmth help students conquer their anxieties about writing and speaking and produce work of outstanding quality. Your feedback is frequent and helpful.

“Students say they strive to do well because they want to repay the trust you show in them and many give you the ultimate praise: you are the best professor they have ever had,” he added.

Chang earned a bachelor’s degree in French language and literature from UW-Madison, a master’s degree in French studies from Middlebury College and a Ph.D. in Romance languages and literatures from the University of Michigan. She also spent a year studying at the University of Paris.

Science Hall is now … Thomas A. Steitz Hall of Science!

Lawrence University’s Science Hall which opened nine years ago, was officially renamed Thomas A. Steitz Hall of Science Friday, June 11, 2010, in honor of the university’s only Nobel Prize winning alumnus. Steitz, who graduated from Lawrence in 1962, was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry Oct. 7, 2009. Today Steitz is the Sterling professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry and professor of chemistry at Yale University. The Nobel Prize honored Steitz’s decades of research on the structure and function of the ribosome, which transforms DNA into proteins central to life functions.

Steitz Hall is the largest academic building on the Lawrence University campus. The building’s first two floors house the chemistry department, while the third floor is devoted to the biology department. A bridge through the building’s distinctive 30-foot glass atrium connects the third floor to adjacent Youngchild Hall, providing the biology department with a contiguous space on the top floor of two separate buildings. The lower level features two advanced research laboratories in physics, a radioisotope wet lab for use by both the biology and chemistry departments and a world-class electron microscopy suite.

Steitz, who was unable to attend the formal dedication ceremony, will be Lawrence University’s commencement speaker Sunday, June 13.

Steitz Hall Dedication — Lawrence University President Jill Beck.

Professor Jerry Lokensgard makes a toast to Dr. Thomas Steitz.

The display inside features a replica of the Nobel Prize and a photo of Dr Steitz receiving the Nobel Prize from the King of Sweden.

Nobel Prize Winner Thomas Steitz Delivers Lawrence University Commencement Address

Lawrence University graduate Thomas Steitz, whose research on the structure of ribosomes earned him the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, returns to his alma mater Sunday, June 13 as featured speaker for the college’s 161st commencement. It will be Steitz’ first visit back to his home state since being named a Nobel laureate.

Lawrence is expected to confer 310 bachelor of arts and/or music degrees to 297 seniors from 33 states and 14 countries during graduation ceremonies that begin at 10:30 a.m. on the Main Hall green.

John Dreher, Lee Claflin-Robert S. Ingraham Professor of Philosophy, delivers the address “What’s Good Today” at a baccalaureate service Saturday, June 12 at 11 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The baccalaureate service and commencement exercise are both free and open to the public.

Four retiring faculty members will be recognized at commencement. s. Robert McMillen Professor of Chemistry Jerrold Lokensgard, Professor of Biology Brad Rence Professor of French Judy Sarnecki and Associate Professor and Director of Technical Services in the library Corrine Wocelka will be awarded honorary master of arts degrees for their combined 129 years of service to Lawrence.

During commencement, President Jill Beck, Lawrence Board of Trustees Chair Harry Jansen Kraemer ’77 and senior Alicia Bones of Omaha, Neb., will join Steitz in addressing the graduates.

Steitz, who grew up in Milwaukee and graduated from Wauwatosa High School in 1958, was named one of three recipients of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in October and received his award in ceremonies last December in Stockholm, Sweden. He was honored for his decades-long research into the structure and function of ribosomes, which decode messenger RNA into proteins, a function central to life. An understanding of the structural basis of the function of ribosomes provides possibilities for the development of new antibiotics.

Since 1970, Steitz has taught at Yale University, where he is the Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and professor of chemistry. He also is an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

His address Sunday will be his third appearance on the Lawrence commencement stage. In addition to receiving his own bachelor’s degree with a major in chemistry in 1962, Steitz was awarded an honorary doctorate of science degree in 1981. Lawrence also recognized Steitz with its Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award in 2002.

On Friday, June 11, Lawrence will rename its 10-year-old Science Hall the Thomas A. Steitz Hall of Science in recognition of Steitz’ achievements.

Since winning the Nobel Prize, Steitz has maintained a busy travel schedule. He returned earlier this week from Cambridge University in England where he delivered a lecture to the Medical Research Council. He arrived in England from Erice, Sicily where he was teaching a class. During the past several months, he has attended conferences or delivered lectures in California, Denmark, France, Italy and Switzerland.

The Nobel Prize was just the latest in a long list of awards and honors Steitz has received during his distinguished career. He has been the recipient of the Pfizer Prize from the American Chemical Society, the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for distinguished work in basic medical sciences and the Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He also was awarded Japan’s Keio Medical Science Prize in 2006, which honors researchers for outstanding and creative achievements in the fields of medicine and life sciences and the 2007 Gairdner Foundation International Award, which recognizes outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science.

After Lawrence, Steitz earned a Ph.D. degree in molecular biology and biochemistry from Harvard University, where he worked with 1976 Nobel Prize winner William Lipscomb. Following a postdoctoral year at Harvard, he moved to the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England before joining the Yale faculty in 1970.

Steitz is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was recently elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

His wife, Joan Steitz, also is a Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale. Steitz’ younger brother, Richard, graduated from Lawrence as well, earning a bachelor’s degree with a major in mathematics and physics in 1964.

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