First President

First President’s Lecture set for Sept. 30
…………………………………………………………………

The 2002-2003
President’s Lecture Series will continue its tradition
of bringing stimulating speakers to campus, starting Sept.
30 with Gregory Stock, author and director of the Program
on Medicine, Technology and Society at UCLA’s School
of Medicine. Other speakers in the series will be Lani Guinier,
civil rights lawyer and professor at Harvard Law School,
and analytical philosopher and art critic Arthur C. Danto.

The lectures
will be held at 8 p.m. in the Grand Hall of Rice Memorial
Center.
In his role at the Program on Medicine, Technology and Society,
Stock explores critical technologies poised to have a large
impact on humanity’s future and the shape of medical
science. Of particular interest to the program are the implications
for society, medicine and business of the human genome project
and associated developments emerging from today’s revolution
in molecular genetics and bioinformatics.

A recognized
authority on the impact of new technologies on human society,
Stock has long explored fundamental issues of human life
and values. His newest work, “Redesigning Humans: Our
Inevitable Genetic Future,” was published in April.
Among his other books are the best seller “The Book
of Questions,” its sequel “The Book of Questions:
Business, Politics and Ethics” and a new book that
will explore how coming technologies will reshape people’s
everyday lives.

In 2003 Stock
will be hosting a television series on the implications
of recent research to retard human aging. A regular commentator
on television and radio, including CNN, PBS and the BBC,
Stock recently participated in a national radio broadcast
with Leon Kass, the head of the president’s bioethics
advisory commission.

Stock has a doctorate
in biophysics from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from
Harvard University.

Guinier will
present the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture Jan. 22.
Her talk is entitled “The Miner’s Canary.”

In 1998 Guinier
became the first black woman to be appointed to a tenured
professorship at Harvard Law School. During the 1980s she
was head of the voting rights project at the NAACP Legal
Defense Fund and served in the Civil Rights Division during
the Carter administration as special assistant to then-Assistant
Attorney General Drew S. Days.

While a member
of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania Law School,
Guinier investigated the experiences of women in law school,
leading to the publication of a book she coauthored, “Becoming
Gentlemen: Women, Law School and Institutional Change.”
Guinier and her coauthors discovered that women were not
graduating with top honors, although women and men came
to the school with virtually identical credentials. The
author of many articles and op-ed pieces on democratic theory,
political representation, educational equity and issues
of race and gender, Guinier has argued that colleges should
practice “confirmative action,” meaning that all
students should be evaluated and educated to confirm the
sacred, democratic mission of higher learning.
A graduate of Radcliffe College of Harvard University and
Yale Law School, Guinier has received numerous awards, including
the Champion of Democracy Award from the National Women’s
Political Caucus, the Rosa Parks Award from the American
Association for Affirmative Action and the Harvey Levin
Teaching Award, given to her by a graduating class at the
University of Pennsylvania.

The final speaker
in the series, art critic and author Danto, will present
the Dominique de Menil Lecture March 5.

A painter before
he was a philosopher, Danto is known for his philosophical
consideration of modern art. As the Johnsonian Professor
Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University, he specialized
in the philosophy of art and philosophical psychology and
taught about philosophers such as Hegel and Schopenhauer.
Danto has received many fellowships and grants, including
two Guggenheims, an ACLS and a Fulbright. He also served
as vice president and president of the American Philosophical
Association as well as president of the American Society
for Aesthetics. He is the author of several books addressing
philosophy and art in a philosophical context, including
“Nietzsche as Philosopher, Mysticism and Morality”
and his award-winning “Encounters and Reflections:
Art in the Historical Present,” a collection of art
criticism that won the National Book Critics Circle Prize
for Criticism in 1990. His most recent book is “The
Madonna of the Future: Critical Essays in a Pluralistic
Art World” published in 2000.

An art critic
for The Nation since 1984, Danto also has published numerous
articles in other journals. In addition, he has been an
editor of the Journal of Philosophy and consulting editor
for various other publications.

Supported by
the J. Newton Rayzor Lecture Fund, the President’s
Lecture Series has long been a distinguished element of
Rice’s academic community. The series, open to the
Rice community and the people of Houston, embodies William
Marsh Rice’s commitment to contribute educational opportunities
to the broader society. The Office of the President sponsors
this series that brings stimulating speakers who foster
understanding about a wide range of topics in the sciences,
humanities, engineering, social sciences, architecture,
music and public policy.

To attend the
free lectures, use Entrance 13 off Rice Boulevard or Entrance
8 off University Boulevard. Parking is available in the
North Lot (near Entrance 13) or in the stadium lot. A shuttle
bus will run between the Rice Memorial Center and the stadium
lot from 7 to 9:30 p.m. View a campus map at <www.ruf.rice.edu/~events/pls/map.html>.
No tickets will be needed for admission to the lectures.
Seating will begin at 7 p.m. For more information, call
(713) 348-5585, e-mail <ricepls@rice.edu> or visit
<www.rice.edu/pls>.