Georgia Southern University to Host Former U.S. Secretary of Energy
Georgia Southern University welcomes Nobel Prize Winner in physics and former U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu to campus as the keynote speaker for No Impact Week at 7 p.m. on April 15 at the Performing Arts Center, 847 Plant Drive.
Chu will offer insight on our energy future and how advances in science are the key to solving our most confounding global issues in his speech titled, “Renewing Our Independence Through Renewable Energy: Challenges and Opportunities.”
The event is part of Georgia Southern’s No Impact Week, a weeklong challenge in which participants commit to gradually reducing their impact on the planet. Each day, the focus is on a different area of sustainability including consumptions, waste, food, transportation, energy, water and giving back.
“We are honored and excited to have Dr. Steven Chu speak at Georgia Southern University. Dr. Chu’s talk, which coincides with No Impact Week and the University’s Annual Research Symposium, is an event which our campus will not soon forget,” said Vice President for Research & Economic Development Charles Patterson, Ph.D. “Dr. Chu’s great accomplishments, such as former Secretary of Energy, a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, and even conversations with the Dalai Lama, are real examples to our students that there are no limits to where application of research and knowledge can take them.”
A distinguished physicist, innovative professor and the first science laureate to serve as U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chu was instrumental in transforming the agency by bringing science to the forefront of America’s clean energy policy. Chu was also a top science advisor to President Barack Obama, where he used his skills to assist BP in stopping the massive Gulf oil leak and assisted the government of Japan in dealing with the tsunami-damaged Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear reactors.
His work in laser cooling and trapping was honored as a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997. He continues to work on solving the country’s energy problems by focusing on new pathways to sustainable, carbon dioxide-neutral energy.
This free event, which is open to the public, is sponsored by the College of Science and Mathematics, Department of Physics, Center for Sustainability, Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development and the University Wellness Program.
Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers 125 degree programs serving more than 20,500 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered approach to education. Visit: www.georgiasouthern.edu.
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