Five distinguished scientists will be visiting Wichita State this academic year as part of Fairmount College’s Watkins Visiting Professor lecture series. The scientists’ visits and their subject disciplines are:

  • Greg Fuchs, Cornell University, physics, Oct. 3-4
  • Vamsi Mootha, Harvard University, chemistry, Oct. 26-27
  • Sarah Hart, University of London, interdisciplinary (mathematics, literature and art), Nov. 8-9
  • Doug Emlen, University of Montana, biology, Feb. 12-13
  • Bill DeGrado, UC, San Francisco, chemistry, April 15-16

Visiting scientists give lectures, demonstrations or other presentations about their research, which furthers the science education of our students and scientific research of our faculty. The professorship series was created in 1974 by the Watkins Foundation. This grant is now provided through the Watkins fund, a part of the Wichita State University Foundation’s endowment. All lectures are open to the public.

More information about each visiting professor may be found online. Look for updates in the newsletter and on Fairmount College’s social media:

Six children work on their studies in a classroom.

In conjunction with ”Where We Belong: Refugee Stories from Wichita,” Mythili Menon, co-curator and Center for Educational Technologies to Assist Refugee Learners (CETARL) director, will speak about the work she’s leading to help refugee learners integrate and thrive in Wichita schools.

The program, “Bringing Research into the Community: the Work of the Center for Educational Technologies to Assist Refugee Learners” is open to everyone at no additional charge and starts at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21 in the Beren Gallery at the Ulrich Museum of Art. A reception will start at 5:30 p.m.

Join the Department of Physics for its next physics seminar at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20 in 226 Jabara Hall and via Zoom.

The seminar features John Stroud from the University of Washington, titled “Dark Matter Admixed Neutron Stars.”

A smiling woman is standing in front of a garden.

Join the Ulrich Museum of Art for a talk “Social Justice in Our Community: Pauline Sharp,” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19 in the Beren Gallery of the Ulrich Museum. A reception starts at 5:30 p.m.

Pauline Sharp, a citizen of the Kaw Nation and past vice-president of the Kaw Nation Cultural Committee, will discuss the Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe/Sacred Red Rock Project, focused on the return and relocation of Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe, the red Siouxan quartzite boulder currently located in Robinson Park in Lawrence to the Kaw Nation.

The talk is presented in conjunction with the exhibition, Lesley Dill | Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me, on display in the Polk/Wilson Gallery Aug. 5 through Dec. 2.

The Department of Biological Sciences’ Seminar Series continues from 4 to 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18 in 218 Hubbard Hall, with Dr. Christopher Schalk—United States Forest Service, Southern Research Station—with his talk “Ecological and conservation challenges behind the pine curtain of the southeastern United States.”

Seminars are open to the public and undergraduates are encouraged to attend.

The Promise and Peril of Intelligent, Creative Machines | Mon., Sept. 18 | 3 to 5 pm | Woolsey Hall, 110B | Joshua Saxe, Senior Staff AI Scientist, Meta

The College of Engineering will host Joshua Saxe, a Wichita-based computer scientist who works as a senior staff artificial intelligence (AI) scientist for Meta, from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18 in 110B (Auditorium 2) Woolsey Hall. Saxe will present “The Promise and Peril of Intelligent, Creative Machines” to WSU students, staff and faculty, and refreshments will be served.

The presentation will encompass the origins of AI, the foundational mechanisms driving it, its present societal impacts including both risks and benefits, and projections of its future evolution. The program will be structured into two segments: a 45-minute presentation featuring prepared remarks and accompanying PowerPoint slides, followed by a 45-minute moderated interview and question and answer session to address questions from the audience.

Within his role at Meta, the company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, Saxe works at the intersection of generative AI, online safety and cybersecurity. He is the author of “Malware Data Science: Attack Detection and Attribution” and many peer-reviewed scientific publications. Saxe also holds more than 20 patents. 

Join the Department of Mathematics and Statistics for a public lecture by Dr. Keiko Kawamuro from the University of Iowa.

The lecture, titled “Diagrammatic left canonical form of braids and applications,” will take place at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15 in 372 Jabara Hall. Refreshments will be available at 2:30 p.m. in 353 Jabara Hall.

The Department of Biological Sciences’ fall 2023 seminar series continues Monday, Sept. 11, with Dr. Tatsuya Yamada, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with his talk, “Mitochondrial Size versus Dynamics – Which came first: the Chicken or the Egg?”.

The seminar is held from 4 to 5 p.m. in 218 Hubbard Hall. Seminars are open to the public and undergraduates are encouraged to attend.

A smiling women is posed next to a small replica of the Keeper of the Plains statue. The statue shows an indigenious man with his hands raised high.

Join the Ulrich Museum for a talk from LaTasha St. Arnault at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12 in the Beren Gallery of the Ulrich.

The talk, “Social Justice in Our Community,” is presented in conjunction with the exhibition, “Lesley Dill | Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me,” on display in the Polk/Wilson Gallery from Aug, 5 through Dec. 2.

LaTasha St. Arnault is the president and CEO of HumanKind Ministries, a homeless services and housing provider that serves more than 15,000 people experiencing poverty and housing insecurities in Sedgwick County each year.

Join the Department of Physics for its first physics seminar of the fall semester at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13 in 226 Jabara Hall and via Zoom.

The seminar features Rodolfo Capdevilla from Fermi National Accelerator Lab, titled “The Muon g-2 Puzzle and Implications for a Muon Beam Program.”