Franklin Institute Laureates Symposium

On April 22-25 the University will have the pleasure of joining with the Franklin Institute in bringing to our campus a series of events in honor of the 2003 Benjamin Franklin Medals and Bower Awards in Science and Business. These events are part of the Franklin Institute's Awards Program which dates back to 1824 and is among the oldest comprehensive science awards program in the world. Since many of the winners of the awards will participate in the symposia, we will have an opportunity to welcome them and to hear about their distinguished work. This year we are especially honored to have two of our esteemed faculty as honorees: Dr. Raymond Davis, recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Physics, and Dr. Robin Hochstrasser, Donner Professor of Physical Sciences (Almanac February 11, 2003).

I want to extend an invitation to all members of the University research community to attend the symposia at Penn, which are listed below along with the RSVP information.

Members of the University are welcome to attend any portion of this program to be held April 22-25, but you are especially invited to the four being held on our campus. They are:

• Honoring Mr. Herb D. Kelleher (2003 Bower Award for Business Leadership); How to Prosper in a Declining Industry, Room G06, Jon M. Hunstman Hall, Tuesday, April 22, 1:30-4 p.m. SORRY, SOLD OUT.

Mr. Kelleher, founder and chairman of the board of Southwest Airlines, "has shown the world that business and technological success are best achieved and enjoyed by inspiring, supporting, and celebrating people and their accomplishments. Under his leadership, Southwest Airlines has realized 29 consecutive years of growth and profitability through a focus on customer service, efficiency, and exemplary employee relations."

• Honoring Drs. Masatoshi Koshiba, Raymond Davis, and John N. Bahcall (2003 Benjamin Franklin Medals in Physics); The Future of Neutrino Physics, Carolyn Lynch Room, Chemistry Building, Thursday, April 24, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The program includes Dr. Wick Haxton, University of Washington; Dr. Hitoshi Murayama, University of California, Berkley; Dr. Joshua Klein, University of Texas, Austin.

Dr. Koshiba, Emeritus Professor of Physics of the University of Tokyo, Dr. Davis, Professor of Physics of the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Bahcall, Professor of Natural Sciences of Princeton University, are being honored "for their work that led to an understanding of neutrino emission from the sun."

Please respond with your plans to attend to Jackie Mileski at jmileski@dept.physics.upenn.edu.

• Honoring Dr. John McCarthy (2003 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer Science); Advances in Automating Common Sense Reasoning, Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, Suite 400A, 3401 Walnut Street, Thursday, April 24, 9:30 a.m. to noon. Chaired by Dr. Mitch Marcus, RCA Professor of Artificial Intelligence, Department of Computer and Information Science, the program includes Dr. McCarthy along with Hector Levesque, University of Toronto; Dr.Vladimir Lifschitz, University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. McCarthy, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, is being honored for "his multiple contributions to the foundations of artificial intelligence and computer science including the development of the LISP language, the invention of time sharing interactive programming, and key developments in the application of formal logic to common sense reasoning."

Please respond with your plans to attend to Janean Williams at janeanw@cis.upenn.edu.

• Honoring Dr. Robin M. Hochstrasser (2003 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry); Structural Dynamics in Chemistry and Biology, Carolyn Hoff Lynch Lecture Hall, Chemistry Building, Friday, April 25, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. The program includes Douwe A. Wiersma, University of Groningen; Philip A. Anfinrud, NIH; William A. Eaton, NIH; Peter Hamm, University of Zurich; Gerald J. Small, Iowa State University; Hans-Peter Trommsdorff, University of Grenoble.

Dr. Hochstrasser, Donner Professor of Physical Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, is being honored "for pioneering the development of ultrafast and multi-dimensional spectroscopies, and their applications to gain fundamental molecular-level understanding of the dynamics in complex systems (condensed phases and biomolecules), including energy transfer in solids, reaction mechanisms in liquid solutions, the binding of small molecules on hemoglobin, and the observation of structural changes in proteins."

Please respond with your plans to attend to Thomas Troxler at ttroxler@sas.upenn.edu.

For more information about the complete program and the honorees please visit the Franklin Institute website at www.fi.edu/tfi/exhibits/bower/index.html.

--Neal Nathanson, Vice Provost for Research