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Nelson Series08

The Dr. Bruce J. Nelson '74 Distinguished Speaker Series, established in 2000, was made possible through the visionary philanthropy of the family of the late Bruce J. Nelson '74.

Designed to bring social, economic and political considerations into global problems that pose difficult technical challenges, the series brings to campus diverse and prominent experts to speak on various topics of interest.

2008-09: Biology and the Environment: Past, Present and Future

Lecturers investigated the impact of humans and other biological species upon the natural world over the course of history.

Jeremy Jackson William E. and Mary B. Ritter Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and senior scientist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute	Jared Diamond Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Guns, Germs and Steel" (1998) and professor, department of geography, UCLA
Stephen W. Pacala Petrie Professor of Biology and director, Princeton Environmental Institute	Andrew Knoll Fisher Professor of Natural History, Harvard University

2007-08: Spaces That Shape

Lectures in this series touched on how design impacts how we feel, learn and react in different spaces. Speakers included:

Denise DeLuca, P.E. Outreach Director, The Biomimicry Institute	Ray Kappe, FAIA Architect-Planner-Educator and Founder, SCI-ARC
Thom Mayne Architect, Morphosis Architecture	Wendy Newstetter Director of Learning Sciences Research Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Walker Wells Director of the Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Communities Program, Global Green	Mark von Wodtke Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture, Cal Poly Pomona Fellow, American Institute of Landscape Architects Principal, CEDG, Inc. President, Energy Harvester, Inc.

2006-07
The 2006-07 Dr. Bruce J. Nelson ’74 Distinguished Speaker Series featured HMC’s Walter and Leonore Annenberg Visiting Professors in Leadership and Management, highly influential and prominent business executives and government officials. In addition to giving the Nelson lecture, the speakers taught part of an ongoing class in leadership; held seminars and discussions for students, faculty and administrators; and delivered a public lecture based on personal experience making tough ethical decisions. Speakers included:

George Atkinson Science and technology advisor to the secretary of state	Norman R. Augustine Former chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Judy Estrin Packet Design, LLC, CEO	Alan Eustace Senior vice president, Engineering and Research, Google
Jeff Wilke Senior vice president, North America Retail, Amazon.com	George Atkinson Science and technology advisor to the secretary of state

Fall 2005: Technology in Entertainment

Speakers in this series included:

Catherine Craig Viewpaint Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic	Brian Fleming ’89 Co-founder, Sucker Punch Producer, “Sly 2: Band of Thieves” video game
David Hardberger Director of Photography, “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”	Dylan Hixon Special Effects Expert
Sandy Karpman Technical Director, Pixar Animation Studios	Scott Stokdyk ’91/92 Lead Visual Effects Supervisor, “Spider-Man 3,” Sony Pictures Imageworks

Spring 2006: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Speakers in this series included:

James Dewar ’66 Director, Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition at RAND	Maria Ebling ’88 Research Staff Member at the IBM T.J.Watson Research Center
Jerome Jackson ’76 Vice President of Research and Development at Stellartech Research	Surya Jayaweera ’96 Founder and CEO of WolfeTech Development Corporation and GXB Interactive
Susan Lewallen ’76 Founder and Co-director of the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology (KCCO) in Moshi,Tanzania	George "Pinky" Nelson '72 Director of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education at Western Washington University Former NASA Astronaut
Gregory P. Rae ’00 Former Member of the Log Analysis Team at Google	Phil Szuromi ’80 Supervisory Senior Editor, Co-editor “This Week in Science” Contributor to “Editor’s Choice” at Science Magazine

2004-05: Computing Challenges and Opportunities

Speakers in this series included:

Rodney Brooks Director and Professor, Computer Science and Artifical Intelligence Lab, MIT	David Cope Composer Professor of Music, University of California, Santa Cruz
Norman Jouppi HP Fellow, HP Labs	Ray Kurzweil Author Founder of Kurzweil Technologie
Monica Lam Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University	Nancy Leveson Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics Department, MIT
Pavel Pevzner Professor of Computer Science, University of California, San Diego	Vaughan Pratt Founder, TIQIT, Inc. Professor, Stanford University
Mitchel Resnick Professor, Media Laboratory, MIT	David Salesin Professor and Researcher, University of Washington and Microsoft Research
Bruce Schneier Security Expert Founder, Counterpane Internet Security	Sebastian Thrun Director, Stanford AI Lab, Stanford University
Manuela Veloso Professor, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

2003-04: Transforming Technology: Engineering for a Changing World

Speakers in this series included:

Dr. Yoseph Bar-Cohen Senior Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory	David A. Baylor Trustee, Harvey Mudd College Executive Vice President, DIRECTV, Inc.
Dr. Fred E.C. Culick Richard L. and Dorothy M. Hayman Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Jet Propulsion, Caltech	Michael J. Fister Senior Vice President and General Manager,Enterprise Platforms Group, INTEL CORPORATION
Christopher F. Hoeber Senior Vice President, Program Management and Systems Engineering, Space Systems/Loral	Jerome J. Jackson ’76 Trustee, Harvey Mudd College Vice President of Research and Development, Stellar Technology, Inc.
Dr. Paul E. Jacobs Executive Vice President and President, QUALCOMM Wireless & Internet Group	Jude P. Laspa ’65 Trustee, Harvey Mudd College Executive Vice President and Deputy COO, Bechtel Corporation
Dr. Alex Lidow CEO International Rectifier	Dr. Malcolm Lewis, P.E. Trustee, Harvey Mudd College President, Constructive Technologies Group (CTG)
Dr. Stephen J. Lukasik Trustee, Harvey Mudd College Former Vice President for Technology, TRW	Dr. Paul B. MacCready Jr. Founder and President, AeroVironment
Timothy J. O’Donnell ‘74 President, Nordam, Inc.	Dr. Ivan E. Sutherland Sun Fellow and Vice President, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
William A. Swope Vice President and Co-General Manager, Software and Solutions Group (SSG), INTEL CORPORATION

2002-03: Sinews of Civilization: Water, Power, Transportation

Speakers in this series included:

Dr. Helen Caldicott Noble Peace Prize Nominee Founder, Physicians for Social Responsibility President, Nuclear Policy Research Institute	Sarah Catz Director, Center for Urban Infrastructure, UC Irvine
Bill Finnegan Journalist The New Yorker	S. David Freeman, Chairman California Power Authority
Peter H. Gleick President, Pacific Institute	Isabelle Greene, ALA Landscape Architect, Isabelle Greene & Associates
Douglas Heller Consumer Advocate Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights	Tom Horan Executive Director, Claremont Information and Technology Institute & Associate Professor of Information Science at Claremont Graduate University
Daniel M. Kammen Professor in the Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley	Larry Mantle (panel moderator) Host of AirTalk on National Public Radio Station KPCC
Warren Olney (panel moderator) Host, Which Way L.A.? and To The Point Moderator/Executive Producer, National Public Radio Station KCRW	Adán Ortega, Jr. V.P. for External Affairs Metropolitan Water District of Los Angeles
Edward Osann President, Potomac Resources, Inc.	David E. Pesonen Arbitrator and Mediator Recipient of 1994 Sierra Club William O. Douglas Award
Donald J. Pisani Professor of History University of Oklahoma	Deborah Redman Principal, Redman Consulting
Brenda Jahns Southwick Managing Counsel, California Farm Bureau Federation	Kevin Starr California Historian State Librarian of California University Professor, USC
Brian Taylor Director, Institute of Transportation Studies & Professor of Urban Planning UCLA	Richard Wolfson Professor of Physics & Environmental Studies, Middlebury College

2001-02: Frontiers in the Exploration of Space

Speakers in this series included:

Gregory Benford Professor of Plasma Physics and Astrophysics, University of California, Irvine Science Fiction Author	Frank D. Carsey, Research Scientist NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Louis D. Friedman Executive Director, The Planetary Society	Matthew P. Golombek Mars Pathfinder Project Scientist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Torrence V. Johnson Galileo Mission Project Scientist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory	Stanley G. Love '87 NASA Astronaut, NASA-Johnson Space Center
Carolyn C. Porco Cassini Mission Imaging Team Leader, Southwest Research Institute	Lt. Col. Dick Rutan Ret., XCOR Aerospace
Donald K. Yeomans Senior Research Scientist and Manager, Near-Earth Object Program NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory	Robert Zubrin Pioneer Astronautics and The Mars Society

2000-01: Beyond The Human Genome Project

Lectures in this series addressed the impact of the human genome project on basic research, medical research and biotechnology, and the broader impacts that these rapid advances in science will have on society as a whole. Speakers included:

Dr. David Baltimore President, Caltech	Ellen W. Clayton, M.D. J.D. Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Law, Vanderbilt University
Bob Goldberg Professor, UCLA	Daniel Kevles, Ph.D, The J.O. and Juliette Koepfli Professor of the Humanities, Caltech
Michael Lynch Professor, Univ. of Oregon	Edward McCabe, M.D. Ph.D. Professor and Executive Chair, UCLA Department of Pediatrics Physician-in-Chief, Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA
Sean Tavtigian Ph.D. Director of Cancer Research at Myriad Genetics, Inc.	Barbara Wold Professor, Caltech