Herzberg Lecture 2020

The Herzberg Lectures are held annually in honour of Gerhard Herzberg, a former Chancellor of Carleton University and recipient of the 1971 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. The lectures emphasize the relationship between science and society and seek to address an aspect of science which has a pronounced impact on our daily lives.

The Herzberg Lecture is free and open to the public.

Increasing Diversity in Computer Science at All Levels

Maria Klawe, President
Harvey Mudd College

Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 7 p.m.
via Zoom webinar

 

Please register in advance

Participation by women and people of colour remains low in most computer science departments among undergraduates, graduate students and faculty. This talk discusses successful strategies to address this issue.

Maria Klawe, President, Harvey Mudd College

Maria Klawe began her tenure as Harvey Mudd College’s fifth president in 2006. A renowned computer scientist and scholar, President Klawe is the first woman to lead the College since its founding in 1955. Prior to joining HMC, she served as dean of engineering and professor of computer science at Princeton University. Klawe joined Princeton from the University of British Columbia where she served as dean of science from 1998 to 2002, vice president of student and academic services from 1995 to 1998 and head of the Department of Computer Science from 1988 to 1995. Prior to UBC, Klawe spent eight years with IBM Research in California, and two years at the University of Toronto.

Klawe is a renowned lecturer and has given talks at international conferences, national symposia, and colleges across the U.S. and Canada about diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines and industries, gender and gaming, and lessons from her own career in STEM industry and education. She has devoted particular attention in recent years to improving K-12 science and mathematics education.

Klawe is the recipient of the 2014 Women of Vision ABIE Award for Leadership and was ranked 17 on Fortune’s 2014 list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. In 2015 she was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Association of Computer Science and the Achievement Award from the American Association of University Women, and she was inducted into the US News STEM Solutions Leadership Hall of Fame. She was honored by the Computing Research Association’s 2016 Distinguished Service Award. In 2017 Maria Klawe was awarded the Academic Leadership Award from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Previous lectures, 2000-present

  • Biological and Cultural Evolution: Six Characters in Search of an Author (WATCH)
    Freeman Dyson
    Professor emeritus of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. American mathematician and theoretical physicist most famous for his work in quantum electrodynamics, solid-state physics, astronomy, and nuclear engineering
  • Signaling through DNA (2017)
    Jacqueline K. Barton
    John G. Kirkwood and Arthur A. Noyes Professor in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology
  • Wetlands: The Kidneys of Our Planet (2016)
    Dr. William J. Mitsch
    Juliet C. Sproul Chair for Southwest Florida Habitat Restoration and Management and Professor of Marine and Ecological Science Juliet C. Sproul Chair for Southwest Florida Habitat Restoration and Management Professor of Marine and Ecological Science, Florida Gulf Coast University
  • The Brain on Stress: Novel Epigenetic Mechanisms of Brain Plasticity (2015)
    Dr. Bruce McEwen
    Alfred E Mirsky Professor and Head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory on Neuroendocrinology at the Rockefeller University
  • More Food, Smaller Footprint: Earth System Science and Biological Agriculture (2014)
    Dr. Gerald M. Ross
    Organic Farmer and Consultant in Farm Design, Maui, Hawaii
  • Must We Irradiate Food?
    Dr. Rick Holley, University of Manitoba
  • Shaken and Stirred: The Cost of Earthquakes and How Science Can Help (2011)
    Dr. John Cassidy
    Research Scienties, Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada and Head of the Earthquake Seismology Section
  • The Dynamic Brain: Adaptation, Changing Environments and Life Circumstances (2010)
    Dr. Anthony Phillips
    Scientific Director, CIHR’s Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addition
  • Doing More Good than Harm: Building an Evidence Base for Environmental Policy and Practice (2009)
    Dr. Andrew Pullin
    Centre for Evidence-based Conservation
    University of Wales, Bangor, Wales
  • The Large Hadron Collider: Shedding Light On a Dark Universe (2008)
    Dr. Rolf-Dieter Heuer
    Director in Charge of High Energy Physics and Astroparticale Physics, Deutsche Elektronen-Synchrotron
  • Seeing and Feeling Nanotechnology: Plastics That Change Colour With Electricity and Pressure (2007)
    Dr. Geoffrey A. Ozin
    Tier 1 Canada Research Chair and Distinguished University Professor
  • Origami, Linkages, and Polyhedral: Folding with Algorithms (2006)
    Dr. Erik D. Demaine
    Associate Professor of Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • The Art of Research (2005)
    Dr. Ram Murty
    Professor and Queen Research Chair in Mathematics
  • Dinosaurs: The Cultural Icons of Science (2004)
    Dr. Philip Currie
    Head of the Dinosaur Research, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology
  • Fisheries Impact on Marine Ecosystems and Their Implication of Global Securities (2003)
    Dr. Daniel Pauly
    Professor of Fisheries, University of British Columbia
  • How Does the Sun Shine? (2001)
    Dr. John N Bahcall
    Institute for Advanced Study School of Natural Sciences, Princeton University
  • Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language (2000)
    Dr. Steven Pinker
    Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology