INFORMATION:

BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT - CLASS OF 1960 SCHOLARS PROGRAM
Biology majors in the class of 2009 and members of the class of 2010 are invited to apply for the Biology Department Class of 1960 Scholars Program, for spring and fall 2008. This program provides a great opportunity for Williams students interested in Biology research to meet with and discuss research and careers in science with a few well-known and talented scientists.

Under the auspices of the program, the Biology Department invites two or three prominent biologists to campus for a one or two day visit. During the visit, our guest will present a general lecture, open to all, as part of our departmental colloquium series (Friday afternoons at 2:30PM in the Spring of 2008. Begining in the Fall of 2008 colloquia will be on Fridays at 1:10 PM). Following the lecture the speaker and the students chosen as the Class of 1960 Scholars will gather for a discussion period (generally lasting from 3:45-5PM). In the past, these sessions have been rather unstructured, allowing students to engage the speaker in wide-ranging discussions not only of his or her research, but of broader issues related to careers in science, etc. Our speakers particularly look forward to this opportunity to meet with Williams students in an informal setting. Later that evening the visitor will have dinner with about half of the Class of 1960 Scholars.

[To give you a feeling for the program, here is a sampling of the prestigious speakers who have participated in our Class of 1960 Scholars program in the recent past: John Collier (Harvard), Chad Oliver (Yale), Donald Price (Johns Hopkins), Andrew Bass (Cornell), JoAnn Burkholder (N. Carolina State), Winslow Briggs (Carnegie Inst.), and Jeffrey Palmer (Indiana University). Their fields of interest range from ecosystem research to genome evolution, from plant development to vaccine development, from human disease to… Well—you get the idea—a wide range of fields are represented by some of the best scientists in those fields!]

Also, during this time the Biology Department invites a group of research-savvy alumni/ae back to campus to share their research experience with you ("The Biology Alumni Research Reunion").

It is expected that during the year each Class of 1960 Scholar will attend the alumni/ae poster session, all lectures and discussion sessions and at least one dinner, and will read one or two short papers (provided by the speaker) on the seminar topic before the discussion session. We also expect that Scholars, in addition to attending lectures and discussions in the Scholars program, will attend as many of the regular Friday afternoon Biology Department colloquia as possible.

This Spring we have one event planned:

Friday March 7
Our Class of 1960 Scholars speaker this spring will be Dr. Cynthia Beall (Case Wesern Reserve University)—her research focuses on human adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia, particularly the different patterns of adaptation exhibited by Andean, Tibetan and East African highlanders. Her colloquium is at 2:30 followed by a discussion with the Class of 1960 Scholars; half of the Scholars will go to dinner with Dr. Beall that evening.

The Scholars program involves substantial commitment and responsibility, and we expect all 1960 Scholars to attend regularly and to participate conscientiously. You should not apply to the program if you know that you would not be able to fulfill the obligations of the program. [You should check your calendar and be sure you can participate in the March 7 event described above.] If you are currently studying off-campus but will be back on campus in the fall, or if you will be on campus this spring but plan to be studying abroad in the fall, you are still encouraged to apply (we can often include students for just half of the year under those circumstances).