Great Minds Program Community Lecture / Richard L. Horwitz Lecture on Ethics
"Invisible Lines of Connection: Social Responsibility and Cowardice" given by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, April 4, 2000
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Great Minds Program Seminar
"Knots and Tangles" with Dr John H. Conway, Professor of Mathematics, Princeton University, March 22, 2000
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Great Minds Program Community Lecture
"The Science and Politics of Climate Change" given by Dr. Mario Molina, Nobel Laureate (Chemistry, 1995) Institute Professor, M.I.T., January 6, 2000
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Great Minds Program Dialogue
"Science and the Media" with Television Executive Producer Bill Kurtis, December 1, 1999
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Great Minds Program Dialogue
"Physics First? Redesigning the Science Curriculum for High Schools" - Pictured left to right are: TOP: Dr. Gerald Wheeler, Dr. Leon Lederman, Professor Robert Yager and Dr. Donald Nelson - BOTTOM: Dr Hazel Loucks, Dr. Stephanie Pace...
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Great Minds Program Dialogue
"Stories of a Scientist" with National Public Radio Host Ira Flatow, February 24, 1999
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Great Minds Program Seminar
"Chromosomes and Leukemia" with 1998 National Medal of Science Winner Dr. Janet Rowley, February 15, 1999
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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.
Lectures from 2013
Climate Change and Temperature-dependent Sex Determination in Turtles, Fredric Janzen
Liger, Tigons and Bears (Oh My!): The Genomic Consequences of Inter-species Hybridization, Beth Shapiro
The Need for Irrational Entrepreneurship, Sam Yagan '95
Lectures from 2012
The Sounds of Spanglish, Ilan Stavans
Lectures from 2011
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors that Control Motor Neuron Vulnerability in ALS, Pembe Hande Ozdinler
Lectures from 2010
Adventures in Nontranslational Research, Martin Chalfie
Chasing Cosmic Bullets: The Pierre Auger Experiment, Angela Olinto
Lectures from 2009
Symmetry and the Origin of Mass, Chris Hill
Extreme Physics Where Small and Big Things Meet, Young-Kee Kim
Lectures from 2008
Chemistry's Essential Tensions: Three Views of a Science, Roald Hoffmann
Lectures from 2007
How to Hunt a Wild Neutrino, Janet Conrad
Lectures from 2004
The Quantum and the Cosmos, Edward (Rocky) W. Kolb and Joseph D. Lykken
Lectures from 2003
Reflections on Apollo, Eugene A. Cernan
Dinosaur Science in the 21st Century, Jack Horner
Our Environmental Destiny, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Engineering the Ocean, Marcia McNutt
Lectures from 2002
An Afternoon with Dr. Freeman Dyson, Freeman Dyson
Stop the Century--We’re Not Ready!, Leon Lederman
Lectures from 2001
Why is it That Computers Still Can't Do What Our Brains Can?, Marvin Minsky