Meet Chemistry’s Colvin at next ‘Table Talk’ Nov. 4

Meet Chemistry’s Colvin at next ‘Table Talk’ Nov. 4

BY PATRICK MCLAUGHLIN
Rice News staff

Professor of Chemistry Vicki Colvin will be the speaker at the next lunchtime program “Table Talk: Rice People Talking With Rice People Over Lunch,” a series that aims to have people at Rice get to know one another over casual conversation.

		VICKI COLVIN

The idea for the Nov. 4 program is simple: Faculty and staff can come to Cohen House, buy their own lunch downstairs and head up to Esther’s Room on the second floor by 12:15 p.m. where Colvin, the Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Professor of Chemistry and professor
in chemical and biomolecular engineering, will talk about her research. After her talk, the floor will open for questions and discussion.

Colvin, who also is director of the Center for
Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, studies the material properties of liquids and solids on nanometer length scales, including introducing new chemical approaches to forming uniform nanocrystals and highly ordered porous solids. She uses these materials as tools to answer fundamental questions about nature, such as the characteristic length scales in glasses and liquids. Her materials research may impact emerging technologies in areas as diverse as bioinformatics and photonics. Her recognitions include being named one of Discover Magazine’s “Top 20 Scientists to Watch.”  She was named an AAAS Fellow in 2007 and was named among the ”Best & Brightest” by Esquire Magazine in 2007. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a doctorate from the University of California-Berkeley.

All Rice faculty and staff are invited, but to eat lunch, they must be a Faculty Club member or be a guest of a member. (Visit http://club.rice.edu for membership details.) The room will accommodate 40 people, and seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Table Talk is sponsored by Scientia, the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies and the Cohen House.

For additional information, contact Ellen Butler at butler@rice.edu or 713-348-4695.