University Faculty Lecture Series begins Sept. 10 The University Faculty Lecture Series kicks off its 2009-10 season on Sept. 10 with "Dinosaurs or Nickel Mines: What are the risks and rewards of Near Earth Asteroids?" by Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor Mike Gaffey, Space Studies. Hesham El Rewini, dean, School of Engineering and Mines, follows on Oct. 8 with "Wireless Sensor Networks: Connecting the Physical and Digital Worlds." Holly Brown Borg, Pharmacology, Physiology & Therapeutics, will kick off the spring semester January 21, 2010, with "Hormones and Long Life: Lessons from dwarf mice." Organizers of the series will meet in September to fill out the spring round of presenters. The lectures are held at the North Dakota Museum of Art, beginning with a reception at 4 p.m.; the lectures start at 4:30 p.m. A question-and-answer period follows each lecture. The University Faculty Lecture Series has been held regularly on campus since 1997, when a group comprising senior faculty members and Chester Fritz Distinguished Professors Richard Beringer, Elizabeth Hampsten, Bill Sheridan, and Sharon Wilsnack along with Peter Johnson, proposed a renewal of this forum to celebrate the diversity and excellence of scholarship at UND. Then-president Kendall Baker provided encouragement and financial support, and the series was re-launched. President Kelley is continuing that tradition of encouragement and support for the series. A key goal of the University Faculty Lecture Series is to bring together the campus community and the community at large to "recognize the university as a unique institution in society, an academic community with scholarly roles and contributions that go beyond, but at the same time enrich, its own educational programs." According to the guidelines of the organizers, each lecture presents "with some depth and rigor the scholarly questions and goals of the individual faculty. In presenting the products of their scholarship, the lecturers will share the enthusiasm and dedication that sustains their creative efforts." The University Faculty Lecture Series cultivates a stronger academic atmosphere by offering a forum for distinguished faculty members selected across the disciplines to talk about the scholarly lives and what drives their research. In presenting their scholarship, the lecturers share the enthusiasm and dedication that sustains their creative efforts. All of the lectures are free and open to the public. -- Juan Pedraza, Writer/Editor, University Relations, juanpedraza@mail.und.edu, 777-6571