Bard College Presents “Why We Die,” a Talk by Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan, on April 26, 2024
On Friday, April 26, 2024, the Bard College Division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing will present “Why We Die,” a talk featuring Venki Ramakrishnan, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and author of the book Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality.
Bard College Presents “Why We Die,” a Talk by Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan, on April 26, 2024
On Friday, April 26, 2024, the Bard College Division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing will present “Why We Die,” a talk featuring Venki Ramakrishnan, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and author of the book Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality. The event will be held at the Olin Auditorium on Bard’s campus, taking place from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, and will include a Q&A followed by a reception. For more information, please contact [email protected].
The last few decades have seen dramatic advances in human understanding of aging and death, and along with that knowledge comes an impulse to negate some of the causes of aging to improve health in old age. Some would wish to postpone aging and death, perhaps indefinitely. Ramakrishnan will explore these issues, including our current understanding of the causes of aging and efforts to tackle it, while also touching on the potential social and ethical implications of such work.
Venki Ramakrishnan grew up in India and left at the age of 19 for the US. After a long career there, he moved in 1999 to the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He works on the structure and function of the ribosome, an enormous molecular complex that reads the genetic information on mRNA (itself copied from a stretch of DNA) to synthesize the proteins they specify. His work also showed how many antibiotics work by blocking bacterial ribosomes, which could help to design better antibiotics. For this work, he shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. From 2015-2020, he was president of the Royal Society, a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists and the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. Ramakrishnan is the author of a popular memoir, Gene Machine, a frank description of the race for the structure of the ribosome and the science and personalities involved, and Why We Die, about the biology of aging and our current efforts to combat it.
This talk is made possible thanks to the support of the Office of the Dean of the College and the Division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing.
Bard alumna Michelle Reynoso ’22 (BHSEC Manhattan ’18) has been awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in support of her graduate work in materials research at Columbia University. Julia Sheffler ’22 has also been awarded an honorable mention by the NSF for her work in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Bard Alumnae Michelle Reynoso ’22 and Julia Sheffler ’22 Honored by National Science Foundation
Bard alumna Michelle Reynoso ’22 (BHSEC Manhattan ’18) has been awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in support of her graduate work in materials research at Columbia University. The program aims to ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the US, and the five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support including an annual stipend of $37,000. Julia Sheffler ’22 has also been awarded an honorable mention by the NSF for her work in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Craig Anderson, Wallace Benjamin Flint and L. May Hawver Professor of Chemistry and Director of Undergraduate Research at Bard, andBard College have received a 2023 Jean Dreyfus Lectureship for Undergraduate Institutions Award. The prestigious award provides an $18,500 grant to bring a leading researcher to a primarily undergraduate institution to give two lectures in the chemical sciences, one of which will be open and accessible to the general public.
Professor Craig Anderson and Bard College Receive the Jean Dreyfus Lectureship Award to Bring Preeminent Chemist Donna Blackmond to Campus
Craig Anderson, Wallace Benjamin Flint and L. May Hawver Professor of Chemistry and Director of Undergraduate Research at Bard, andBard College have received a 2023 Jean Dreyfus Lectureship for Undergraduate Institutions Award. The prestigious award provides an $18,500 grant to bring a leading researcher to a primarily undergraduate institution to give two lectures in the chemical sciences, one of which will be open and accessible to the general public. Chemical engineer and kineticist Donna Blackmond, who is best known for pioneering the methodology of “Reaction Progress Kinetic Analysis (RPKA)” for fundamental mechanistic studies of complex organic reactions, as well as for streamlining pharmaceutical process research, will give a series of lectures at Bard College during the Fall 2024 semester. Professor Blackmond currently serves as the John C. Martin Endowed Chair of Chemistry and Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research Institute. During her visit to Bard, Blackmond will substantively interact with undergraduate students and faculty. The Jean Dreyfus Lectureship Award will also support summer research for two undergraduates who will be working with members of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Program during Bard College’s eight-week summer research program, Bard Summer Research Institute.
“We are extremely excited to receive this award that will allow our students access to such an elite research chemist like Professor Blackmond, as well as support novel chemistry research for two exceptional Bard students,” professor Anderson said. “I would like to thank my colleagues in the Chemistry Program and Karen Unger and Johnny Brennan in Bard’s Office of Institutional Support for their help and support in submitting this successful proposal. I especially would like to acknowledge Emily McLaughlin, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean of the College, for her help in securing such a preeminent speaker through her extensive connections in the chemistry community.”
Donna G. Blackmond is recognized for her work in probing organic reaction mechanisms, particularly in asymmetric catalysis, and for investigations aimed at understanding the origin of biological homochirality. She was born in Pittsburgh, PA, and received her PhD in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1984. She began her career as an assistant professor in chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She has also held academic positions in Germany (Max-Planck-Institut) and the UK, where she held Chairs in Physical Chemistry (University of Hull) and Catalysis (Imperial College London). She has also worked in the pharmaceutical industry (Merck & Co., Inc). She is currently the John C. Martin Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Chemistry Department Chair at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. Blackmond has been recognized internationally for her research including awards from the American Chemical Society, the British Royal Society, the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft and the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung. She is an elected member of both the US National Academy of Sciences and the US National Academy of Engineering, as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Learn more about Blackmond’s research interests here.
Bard College is among eight institutions to receive a 2023 Jean Dreyfus Lectureship for Undergraduate Institutions grant. Learn more here.
Post Date: 11-17-2023
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Geillan Aly, Compassionate Math Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium1:30 pm – 3:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 The field of STEM offers many personal and professional rewards. However, emotions may stand in the way of such rewards. In this workshop, we will explore imposter syndrome and other socioemotional phenomena which may affect one’s ability to engage with and succeed in a field as competitive and demanding as those in STEM. Participants will have an opportunity to explore and reflect on their feelings towards studying STEM. Participants begin by reflecting on and sharing their previous learning experiences to place these experiences in context, learning that: (1) they are not alone; (2) their experiences are likely not tied to them as an individual, but are a result of sociohistorical forces. This allows students to think deeply and critically about how they approach their studies. Participants then reorient themselves based on these new realizations and their motivation to succeed. This reorientation includes strategies and tips for studying, focusing on learning mathematics in particular. Finally the workshop gives participants an opportunity to work on a mathematical problem, setting the stage for a positive opportunity to engage with mathematics and their other studies. All participants are encouraged to participate in small-group and whole session discussions throughout the program, reducing the “I’m alone” stigma and forming bonds with others in the group. They are also encouraged to continue working and studying together after the workshop is completed.
Dr. Geillan Aly, the Founder of Compassionate Math, is a math educator who centers the socioemotional factors that contribute to success in mathematics. She holds the fundamental assumption that learning math is both an emotional and cognitive endeavor. A former award-winning Assistant Professor who has taught for over fifteen years, Dr. Aly transforms math classrooms through engaging professional development and student-focused workshops that center emotions while establishing a culture of engaging with rigorous mathematics. She received her PhD in Teaching and Teacher Education and Master’s in Mathematics from the University of Arizona. Underlying Dr. Aly’s work is a dedication to equity and social justice. She enjoys traveling and seeing live music and is an avid chef, wife, and mother to a beautiful boy.