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NEWS RELEASE
Phone: 386-226-6525 Noted Physicist Jim Gates to Speak on Supergravity at Embry-Riddle
In his lecture, titled “Supergravity: The Quest for Unification,” Gates will explain how the concept of a single, unifying theory describing the entire universe has determined much of the direction of modern physics, from electricity and magnets to the concept of supergravity. He is well known for his groundbreaking work in both supergravity and supersymmetry, areas that are closely related to string theory, and is the co-author of the book Superspace or 1001 Lessons in Supersymmetry, a standard text in the field. As the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, Gates is the first African-American to hold an endowed chair in physics at a major research university in the United States. He’s also the director of the university’s Center for String and Particle Theory. In 2009, President Obama named Gates to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a select group of 20 of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers. “Jim is an acclaimed scholar who has made outstanding contributions not only to physics but also to the popularization of science,” said Dr. Linda Straubel, Embry-Riddle humanities professor and director of the university’s Arts & Letters Series, one of the co-sponsors of his visit. “He has a rare gift for clarifying complex and abstract ideas for all audiences.” Gates has appeared in four PBS documentaries, including “The Elegant Universe,” and in the first Isaac Asimov Memorial Panel Debate on a “Theory of Everything.” For these accomplishments, among others, he received the 2006 Public Understanding of Science and Technology Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society. The lecture is co-sponsored by Embry-Riddle’s Arts & Letters Series, the Office of Diversity Initiatives, the Fred Elston Fund, and Cengage Publishing. Dr. Elston was an Embry-Riddle professor and expert on general relativity who died in 2000. For more information on the event, contact Embry-Riddle physics professor Dr. Chris Vuille at (386) 226-6724 or charles.vuille@erau.edu. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 150 campuses in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu. |
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