Author: Sharon Wood

Robinson Professors

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, presented lectures on “origins of life” at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; the University of South Dakota; and the University of California, Davis. He also presented a lecture on “diamond synthesis” at Brown University, as well as lectures on “mineral evolution” at Brown University and the Smithsonian Institute. His work on deep carbon science was featured in an article in the American Chemical Society’s Chemical and Engineering News.

Carma Hinton, Robinson Professor of Visual Culture and Chinese Studies, was the keynote speaker at Denison University’s East Asian Film and Lecture Series, “Politics and Culture in Post-’89 China.” She also discussed the challenges of making her film, “The Gate of Heavenly Peace.”

Harold Morowitz, Robinson Professor of Biology and Natural Philosophy, was appointed a senior editor of Astrobiology, the official journal of the Astrobiological Society. He also wrote “The Planetary Biology Subcommittee Versus Richard M. Nixon,” which appeared in the February 2012 issue of Astrobiology.

James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics, participated in the Liberal Arts Council at the Western Governors University in Salt Lake City. He also attended the Economics Institute for Judges, in Orange, Calif., and presented “The Scientific Method, Elements of Scientific Decision Making and the Extinction of the Dinosaurs: The Scientific Method in Action.”

Robinson Professors

Spencer R. Crew, Robinson Professor of American, African American, and Public History, recorded a video about the Underground Railroad for New Jersey Public TV. He also presented “The Great Migration of African Americans: Making the ‘Color Line’ National” as part of New Mexico State University’s lecture series, Arriving in America: The Challenge of Immigrants and Minorities in Modern American History.

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, received the Outstanding Faculty Award, Virginia’s highest honor for educators at the state’s public and private colleges and universities, in February. He also presented a lecture on “Origins of Life” at the University of California, Davis.

Hugh Heclo, Robinson Professor of Public Affairs, presented “Ronald Reagan: The Making of a Politician” at the Seventh Annual Ronald Reagan Symposium at Regent University.

Harold Morowitz, Robinson Professor of Biology and Natural Philosophy, had his 50 years of study on the origin of life theory detailed in “Not Your Grandfather’s Origin of Life Theory” in the Santa Fe Institute Bulletin, vol. 26, 2012.

Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, spoke at Grinnell College as part of a three-day symposium on the Global Economic Crisis; made a presentation to the TiE group of local entrepreneurs at the Tower Club in Northern Virginia; and moderated a panel on jobs and the economy at a gathering of United Auto Workers, local leaders and political activists in Washington, D.C.

Robinson Professors

Spencer R. Crew, Robinson Professor of American, African American and Public History, was interviewed by Annette Windhorn, coordinator of the Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lectureship Program, about the Underground Railroad for a podcast series to commemorate the Civil War sesquicentennial.

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, presented a lecture on mineral evolution at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, presented the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Northern Virginia Chapter of NAIOP, the association of real estate investors and developers. He was also selected as an outstanding leader by a committee of experts on leadership convened by the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School.

James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics, participated in a meeting of the Liberal Arts Council of Western Governors University via phone conference. He also served on a selection committee for Marshall-Sherfield Fellowships in Washington, D.C.

Robinson Professors

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, presented a keynote lecture on mineral evolution at the Dasan Conference on Earth Evolution in Gyeong-ju, Korea. He also presented the lecture “Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life’s Origins” at Hampshire College, and “Mineralogical Coevolution of the Geo-Sphere and Biosphere” at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Harold Morowitz, Robinson Professor of Biology and Natural Philosophy, presented a lecture, “Life, the Fourth Geosphere,” as part of an Open Questions forum at the Potomac School in McLean, Va. He also wrote “Life on Venus,” which was published in Astrobiology, Vol.11, No. 9. He was appointed special articles editor of the Astrobiology Journal.

James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics, presented “Science and the Law” for the Judicial Advisory Council of the Law and Economics Center in Fairfax, Va. He also wrote with a student, “Problems with Problem Sets” for Physics Today, November 2011.