Sturm Memorial Lecture

In memory of Kenneth E. Sturm, a Wesleyan alumnus, this annual event is held in the spring and is open to the public . It features a presentation from an astronomer that is outstanding in their field and able to communicate the excitement of science to a lay audience. The event is free and open to anyone.

Speaker: Steven Squyres (Cornell University)

Description: In January of 2004, twin robotic explorers named Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars.  Expected to last for 90 days, the two rovers have explored the Martian surface for more than four years.  Their objective is to search for evidence of past water on Mars, and to determine if Mars ever had conditions that would have been suitable for life.

Date: Thursday, April 10, 2008, 8:00PM

Where: Kerr Lecture Hall (formerly Shanklin 107)

PDF file of 2008 Sturm Lecture Poster

Past Speakers

Year	Guest Speaker	Title of presentation
2007	Dr. Alex Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley	"Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe"
2006	Dr. David Spergel, Princeton University	"Taking the Baby Picture of the Universe"
2005	Charles Bailyn, Yale Univesity	"How to See a Black Hole"
2004	Alyssa Goodman, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics	"Making Stars"
2003	David J. Helfand, Columbia University	"How Superman Saw the Stars"
2002	Dr. Neta Bahcall, Princeton University	"The Dark Side of the Universe"
2001	Dr Robert Williams, Distinguished Research Scholar of the Space Telescope Science Institute	"Through The Looking Glass: The Universe Seen With Hubble Space Telescope"
2000	Dr. Geoff Marcy, University of California, Berkeley	"Cosmic Oases: New Worlds and Life in the Universe"
1998	Dr. Martha Haynes, Cornell University	"Dark Matter and the Future of the Universe"
1997	Dr. Margaret Geller, Harvard University	"So Many Galaxies... So Little Time..."
1996	Dr. David Latham, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics	"Searching for Planets"
1995	Dr. Robert Kirshner, Chairman of Astronomy Department at Harvard University	"Taking Measure of the Universe: How Big? How Old? How Do We Know?"
1994	Dr. Owen Gingrich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics	"Hypothesis, Proof, and the Censors, or How Galileo Changed the Rules of Science."
1993	Dr. Stephen Strom, University of Massachusetts	"The Formation of Stars and Solar Systems"
1992	Dr. Vera Rubin, Carnegie Institution of Washington	"What Newton Didn't Know About the Universe"
1991	Dr. Jay Pasachoff, Williams College	"The Sun and Solar Eclipses"