The Probst Lecture Series
The Department of Chemistry of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) initiated the Probst Lecture series in 1975 as a memorial to one of its founding faculty members, Professor William J. Probst. Each year a noted chemist is invited for a visit that features several lectures. An evening lecture usually consists of a topic that is broad in scope to attract the interest of alumni, faculty, and students throughout the arts and sciences, while a second afternoon lecture focuses on the guest's contributions to chemical research. The lecture series has been planned to coincide with the Chemistry Senior Assignment Poster Session and the Bouman Student Research Symposium.
Probst Lecture 2025
Dr. Jayaraman Sivaguru, Bowling Green State University
"Lessons from Light for Life and Leisure"
Wednesday 16 April 2025 at 7:00 PM in the Meridian Ballroom
The Bouman Research Symposium will precede the Probst Lecture from 2:30 to 4:30 PM in the Meridian Ballroom.
Thursday 17 April at 11:00 AM in the Science East Auditorium (SE 1136)
"Harnessing the Power of Light to Drive Chemical Changes"
Dr. Sivaguru is the Antonia and Marshall Wilson Professor of Chemistry and the Associate Director of the Center for Photochemical Sciences at the Department of Chemistry, Bowling Green State University, Ohio. His group’s research focuses on light-induced processes in asymmetric photochemistry, organo-photocatalysis, supramolecular photocatalysis, supramolecular photochemistry, and molecular recognition in chemical and biological systems.
For directions to the campus please visit the SIUE maps or SIUE Parking map. The Meridian Ballroom is located in the Morris University Center. For more information on the lecture, please contact Dr. Debanjana Ghosh
Past Lectures
- 2024 Dr. Steven Schwartz, Computers and the physics of complex biological systems: Ways to probe long time and rare events that keep us alive, can make us sick, and drugs that can help
- 2023 Dr. Lingjun Li, Mass Spectrometry-based Omics Strategies for Biomarker Discover in Alzheimer's Disease
- 2022 Dr. Shang-Tian Yang, Industrial Biotechnology and Biorefineries in a Circular Bioeconomy
- 2021 Dr. Karen Fleming, Bacterial Hot Potato
- 2020 Dr. R. Graham Cooks (lecture cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
- 2019 Dr. Jennifer Doudna, CRISPR Systems and the Future of Genome Editing
- 2018 Dr. John Killmer, RNAi in Agriculture
- 2017 Dr. Mae C. Jemison, Exploring the Frontiers of Science and Human Potential
- 2016 Dr. Richard B. Silverman, Drug Discovery: Ingenuity or Serendipity?
- 2015 Dr. Gregory H. Robinson, Molecules That Changed History
- 2014 Dr. Erick M. Carreira, Surprises and Discoveries with Human-Derived Natural Products and Their Relevance to Human Medicine
- 2013 Dr. Christopher Cummins, Nitrogen and Phosphorus: Fertilizer from the Atmosphere to the Oceans
- 2012 Dr. Mark Von Itzstein, Viruses in the 21st Century - an Alternative Approach to Tackling Viral Diseases
- 2011 Dr. Jerald Schnoor, Water Sustainability in a Changing World
- 2010 Dr. Gary M. Hieftje, Teaching and Research: Symbiosis or Conflict?
- 2009 Dr. William A. Eaton, Searching for a Cure for Sickle Cell Disease
- 2008 Dr. Dale C. Poulter, The Terpenome. A Cornucopia of Natural Molecules for Life, Health, and Commerce
- 2007 Ms. Susan Marie Frontczak, Manya: A Living History of Marie Curie
- 2006 Dr. René Roy, Carbohydrates and Biological Recognition: Impact on the Development of Vaccines
- 2005 Dr. Robert F. Curl, The Discovery of the Fullerenes and the New World of Carbon Chemistry
- 2004 Dr. Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, Science is Fun
- 2003 Dr. George B. Richter-Addo, Small, Versatile, and Potent: NO and You
- 2002 Dr. William R. Heineman, Chemistry Sensors: Why They Are Important to You
- 2001 Dr. Purnendu K. Dasgupta, Science and Scientists: Culpability and the passage of innocence
- 2000 Dr. Allen J. Bard, Cold Fusion and Pathological Science
- 1999 Dr. Janet Osteryoung, Research: Who Pays and Who Benefits
- 1998 Dr. Ronald Breslow, The Chemistry of Tomorrow will Change Our World
- 1997 Dr. Fred Basolo, The Early History of Metal Complexes to Illustrate How Science Works
- 1996 Dr. Alfred Bader, The Adventures of a Chemist Collector
- 1995 Dr. Roald Hoffmann, The Same and Not the Same: the Rift Between the Sciences and Humanities
- 1994 Dr. Terence C. Owen, Pretty Colored Chemistry for Biology and Medicine: Better Things for Better Living
- 1993 Dr. Frederick Hawthorne, Boron Neutron Capture Therapy
- 1992 Dr. Harold Kroto, C60, Buckminsterfullerene, The Celestial Sphere Which Fell to Earth
- 1991 Dr. James L. Dye, Electride Structures
- 1990 Dr. Lawrence K. Montgomery, Organic Superconductors? You Must Be Kidding
- 1989 Dr. Norman R. Farnsworth, Prospects for Finding Anticancer Drugs from Plants and Marine Organisms
- 1988 Dr. Peter Kollman, Use of Computer Simulations in Chemistry
- 1987 Dr. John William Birks, Nuclear Winter - Ultraviolet Spring
- 1986 Dr. Jacqueline K. Barton, Molecular Travels Along the DNA Strand
- 1985 Dr. Paul Gassman, How to Bend a Carbon-Carbon Bond
- 1983 Dr. Michael Kasha, A New Look at the History and Design of String Instruments: Guitar, Viola, Violin
- 1982 Dr. Leo A. Paquette, The Dodecahedron Story
- 1981 Dr. Mildred Cohn, Nuclear Probes of Enzymatic Reactions
- 1980 Dr. William N. Lipscomb, How Do Enzymes Work?
- 1979 Dr. Carl Djerassi, The Future of Human Birth Control
- 1978 Dr. Melvin S. Newman, New Chemistry Involved in Studies on Synthesis of Carcinogenic Compounds
- 1977 Dr. Paul D. Bartlett, Competing Reaction Mechanisms in Organic Oxidation
- 1976 Dr. Robert E. Buckles, Halogen Addition Reactions: Simple Reactions Which Are Not So Simple
