The IMSA Great Minds Program® was launched in 1998 by IMSA Founder, Resident Scholar, and Nobel Laureate, Dr. Leon Lederman. It provides IMSA students and faculty, Illinois educators and students, and the public with opportunities to learn from, interact with and be inspired by the “greatest minds” of our time. Serving as a catalyst to stimulate the creation of a new system of teaching and learning, the program’s purpose is to “fan the imagination” and stimulate the curiosity of young people and adults about the limitless possibilities of the future.

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Lectures from 2013

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Climate Change and Temperature-dependent Sex Determination in Turtles, Fredric Janzen

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Liger, Tigons and Bears (Oh My!): The Genomic Consequences of Inter-species Hybridization, Beth Shapiro

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The Need for Irrational Entrepreneurship, Sam Yagan '95

Lectures from 2012

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The Sounds of Spanglish, Ilan Stavans

Lectures from 2011

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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors that Control Motor Neuron Vulnerability in ALS, Pembe Hande Ozdinler

Lectures from 2010

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Adventures in Nontranslational Research, Martin Chalfie

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Chasing Cosmic Bullets: The Pierre Auger Experiment, Angela Olinto

Lectures from 2009

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Symmetry and the Origin of Mass, Chris Hill

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Extreme Physics Where Small and Big Things Meet, Young-Kee Kim

Lectures from 2008

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Chemistry's Essential Tensions: Three Views of a Science, Roald Hoffmann

Lectures from 2007

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How to Hunt a Wild Neutrino, Janet Conrad

Lectures from 2004

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The Quantum and the Cosmos, Edward (Rocky) W. Kolb and Joseph D. Lykken

Lectures from 2003

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Reflections on Apollo, Eugene A. Cernan

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Dinosaur Science in the 21st Century, Jack Horner

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Our Environmental Destiny, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Engineering the Ocean, Marcia McNutt

Lectures from 2002

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An Afternoon with Dr. Freeman Dyson, Freeman Dyson

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Stop the Century--We’re Not Ready!, Leon Lederman

Lectures from 2001

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Why is it That Computers Still Can't Do What Our Brains Can?, Marvin Minsky