Hoffmann Delivers Honors Day Keynote Address
American theoretical chemist, poet and author Roald Hoffmann, winner
of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, will deliver the keynote address
for Alma College’s 11th annual Kapp Honors Day.
Hoffmann will discuss “Science and Ethics: A Marriage of Necessity and
Choice for This Millennium” at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 4, in the Remick
Heritage Center, Presbyterian Hall. Admission is free and open to the
public.
More than 135 Alma College students will share their original research,
creativity and talent with an audience of their peers in sessions
spanning eight hours at various locations around campus during Honors
Day on Thursday, April 5.
During an Honors Convocation in the Remick Heritage Center from 9:30 to
11 a.m. April 5, seniors reveal their choices for outstanding
professors, and the top students are recognized, including the 2007
winner of the Barlow Trophy, Alma’s most prestigious academic honor.
Finalists for the award are Erin Bernethy of Linwood, Melissa Hanson of
Manistee and Marcus Hong of Charlotte, N.C.
Hoffmann has received many of the honors of his profession, including
the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry shared with Kenichi Fukui. He is
recognized as a superb teacher, lecturer and writer who has done much
to convey the importance of chemistry to the general public. He helped
prepare and narrate the popular PBS series, “The World of Chemistry,”
and is a frequent columnist for American Scientist.
Born in Poland, Hoffmann came to the United States in 1949 and studied
chemistry at Columbia University and Harvard University. Since 1965 he
has taught at Cornell University, now as the Frank H.T. Rhodes
Professor of Human Letters.
“Applied theoretical chemistry” is the way Hoffmann likes to
characterize the particular blend of computations simulated by
experiment and the construction of generalized models, of frameworks
for understanding, that is his contribution to chemistry.
His books include Chemistry Imagined, a unique
art/science/literature collaboration with artist Vivian Torrence that
reveals the creative and humanistic sparks of molecular science. He
also is the author of The Same and Not the Same, a thoughtful account of the dualities that lie under the surface of chemistry, and Old Wine, New Flasks; Reflections on Science and Jewish Tradition.
An accomplished poet and playwright, Hoffmann’s works include a number of poetry collections, including The Metamict State (1987), Gaps and Verges (1990), Memory Effects (1999) and Soliton (2002). He also has co-written a play titled Oxygen, which has been performed worldwide and translated into 10 languages.
Hoffmann is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.
Posted: Tue, March 27th, 2007 at 3:20PM
