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Department of Physics

The William C. Shaw Lecture Series


NO. YEAR SPEAKER LECTURE TITLE
1   1979 Frank D. Drake
Cornell University
Extraterrestrial Intelligence
2   1980 Max Dresden
S.U.N.Y at Stony Brook
Black Holes:
Science or Fantasy
3   1982 William A. Fowler
California Institute of Technology
(Nobel Laureate)
The Age of the Universe
4   1984 Alvin M. Weinberg
Institute for Energy Analysis
A Second Nuclear Era:
Prospects and Perspectives
5   1986 Allan Sandage
Mt. Wilson and
Las Campanas Observatory
Creation of the Universe:
Astronomical Style
6   1987 Sheldon L. Glashow
Harvard University
(Nobel Laureate)
Challenge of Particle Physics
7   1991 Laurie M. Brown
Northwestern University
The Passion for Unity and the
Possible End of Physics
8   1995 Harrison Schmidt
Apollo 17 Astronaut
A Trip to the Moon and Beyond
9   2001 Mildred Dresselhaus
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
Big Prospects for Small Science:
Opportunities in Nanoscience
and Nanotechnology
10   2002 Virginia Trimble
University of California, Irvine
University of Maryland
Cosmology:
Man's Place in the Universe
11   2005 Michael Turner
National Science Foundation
University of Chicago
The Dark Side of the Universe:
Beyond Stars and the
Starstuff We Are Made Of
12   2007 Christopher Sorensen
Kansas State University
Fire, Fractals, and the
Divine Proportion
13   2010 Steven Squyres
Cornell University
Roving Mars:
Spirit, Opportunity, and the
Exploration of the Red Planet
14   2011 Neil deGrasse Tyson
Frederick P. Rose Director
Hayden Planetarium
Our Past, Present,
and Future in Space
15   2013 John C. Mather
NASA
(Nobel Laureate)
History of the Universe
from the Beginning to End
16   2016 Capt. Jim Lovell
NASA Astronaut
Apollo 13: A Successful Failure
17   2017 Mae C. Jennison
Science Mission Specialist
NASA
Exploring the Frontier of
Science and Human Potential
18   2018 Guion "Guy" Bluford, Jr.
Retired Col., U.S. Air Force
NASA Astronaut
The Future of
the Space Program and
International Space Station

Professor William C. Shaw (1908-1977) was a dedicated physicist and educator long associated with Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.  He was Professor of Physics from 1959 to 1973 and subsequently Professor Emeritus until his death in 1977.  He was a skilled and clever teacher with a special dedication to education of the general student.

To commemorate the many contributions Professor Shaw made during his long scientific career and to further the cause of general education to which he devoted much of his energy, his family and friends established the William C. Shaw Memorial Fund at SIUE.  Proceeds of this fund were used in the construction and equipping of the William C. Shaw Sky Lab, which permits students to experience and study first hand the wonders of the night sky, keeping alive Professor Shaw's love of teaching astronomy.  Also supported in part by the Shaw Memorial Fund is the William C. Shaw Lecture Series.  The Shaw Lectures are presentations in science aimed at the interested, informed layperson, and the lecturers have been chosen because of their outstanding achievements in science, their ability to provide lectures on stimulating topics and their skill at communicating with the general public.


Revised 2018 Nov 9
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