By Dan Nonte, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-4314
Posted 4-11-08
GREENSBORO, NC –What happens when a tenured chemistry professor spends a year as a senior science advisor in the U.S. State Department?
Find out at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, when Dr. Edward T. Samulski tells his story in Room 200 of the Science Building at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He will provide an overview of the state of science and the science of State with his lecture “Return from the Dark Side: A Research Scientist’s Perspective on Science for Statecraft.”
Samulski, the Cary C. Boshamer Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, spent a year advising the State Department as a 2005 Jefferson Science Fellow. “This initiative is a drop in the bucket of what is needed to bring our government up to par with other nations, many of which have science attaches in every embassy,” he says.
In an overview of his lecture, Samulski writes: “Science is a universal language. For that reason, the worldwide network of scientists represents a vast untapped resource for the enhancement of international relationships.
“As it happens, a preponderance of international treaties have a scientific/technical component. The U.S. Department of State has belatedly recognized these factors, realizing that the formulation of U.S. government policy abroad requires an accurate and timely understanding of rapidly advancing science, technology, and engineering issues.”
The Science Building is at Carr and McIver Streets. Parking is available in the nearby McIver Street Parking Deck. A campus map is online at http://www.uncg.edu/online_map.
Samulski’s speech will be the second in UNCG’s Science and Society Lecture Series. Nobel Laureate Sir Harry Kroto kicked off the series with a speech about sustainability Feb. 27.
