MICHAEL TURNER
University of Chicago

A noted astrophysicist from the University of Chicago will be the inaugural speaker for the spring 2005 Distinguished Speakers Series of Kansas State University's Center for the Understanding of Origins and as part of the Provost's Lecture Series.

Michael Turner will present "Cosmic Facts, Surprises and Mysteries: What We Know and Don't Know About the Birth and Destiny of the Universe" at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 10, in the Banquet Room at the K-State Alumni Center. Turner's lecture is free and the public is welcome.

Turner also serves as assistant director for mathematical and physical sciences for the National Science Foundation, heading a $1 billion directorate that supports research in mathematics, physics, chemistry, materials and astronomy, as well as multidisciplinary programs and education.

At the University of Chicago Turner is the Bruce V. and Diane M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor and chairs the department of astronomy and astrophysics. In addition, he has an appointment as a senior scientist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

The recipient of numerous awards and distinctions during his three decades of research, Turner is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Scientists. He also is the author of several monographs and books, as well as more than 300 research papers. He earned a bachelor's in physics from the California Institute of Technology, and his master's and doctoral degrees in physics from Stanford University.

Turner has chaired the National Research Council's Committee on the Physics of the Universe, which produced a comprehensive report, "Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos: Eleven Science Questions for the New Century," that contributed to the Bush administration's formulation of its science planning agenda. Turner also served on the council's Astronomy and Astrophysical Decadal Survey Committee which mapped out the priorities for investments in astronomy research over the next decade.

K-State's Center for the Understanding of Origins aims to foster bold and scholarly interdisciplinary research addressing issues of origins, especially the origin of the physical universe, the Earth, life, intelligence and language. The center, 116 Cardwell Hall, is comprised of permanent faculty from the Division of Biology and the departments of English, entomology, history, geology, philosophy and physics. Center faculty are involved in developing general education courses and honors seminars for undergraduates and a graduate certificate program in the study of origins.