People, papers and presentations

April DeConick, the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies and a historian of early Jewish and Christian thought, presented “The Ancient New Age: How Gnostic Spirituality Revolutionized Religion in Antiquity” for the 29th annual Loy H. Witherspoon Lecture in Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Charlotte, March 11. The Witherspoon Lecture is the oldest and most prestigious endowed lecture series at UNC Charlotte and brings together the “who’s who” in religious studies. The series, established in 1984, honors the distinguished career and service of UNC’s Loy H. Witherspoon.

Rice University professor Rebecca Richards-Kortum participated in the Global Grand Challenges Summit in London last week. The summit, sponsored by national academies of engineering in the United States, United Kingdom and China, seeks to share ideas among engineers, innovators and policymakers to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. Richard-Kortum, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Bioengineering and director of Rice 360˚: Institute for Global Health Technologies, took part in a panel on health March 12.The event featured a keynote speech by Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.