Geri Richmond, the University of Oregon’s Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor of Chemistry, will deliver the Presidential Research Lecture at 7 p.m. on May 7, in the Lillis Business Complex Auditorium, Room 182.
Richmond, a 28-year veteran faculty member, was appointed by President Obama to the National Science Board in November. She specializes in chemistry, materials science and chemical reactions on liquid surfaces.
Richmond’s lecture, "At the Water's Edge: Understanding Environmentally Important Processes at Aqueous Surfaces," will examine the perplexities of the surface of water, a surface involved in some of the most important reactions in our atmosphere — everything from sculpting the landscape to exchanging essential nutrients in life-sustaining processes in the human body.
A long-time advocate for women in science, Richmond co-founded the Committee on the Advancement of Women Chemists (COACh) to provide mentoring and support to women scientists around the globe. She is currently working on several projects with women scientists in developing countries.
Richmond’s recent appointment to the 25-member National Science Board – the governing board for the National Science Foundation – reflects her long-time commitment to the sciences, says Kimberly Andrews Espy, vice president for research and innovation and dean of the graduate school at the UO. The board establishes the policies of the NSF, approves new programs and awards and serves as an independent body of advisors to the president and Congress on policy and education matters related to science and engineering.
“Dr. Richmond’s integrated passion for scientific research, teaching, and international engagement make her an ideal choice for this year’s presidential research lecture,” Espy says. “She views her research as a means of discovery, of training and of cultivating the scientists of tomorrow. The impact of her work is evident to the sciences, on this campus and around the globe.”
Inducted into the National Academy of Sciences in 2011, Richmond was recently awarded the American Physical Society’s 2013 Davisson-Germer Prize in Surface or Atomic Physics, and she received the American Chemical Society’s 2013 Charles Lathrop Parsons Award for her advocacy on behalf of higher education, science policy and women scientists.
Richmond served on the Oregon State Board of Higher Education from 1999 to 2006. Before joining the faculty of the UO in 1985, she was a professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College. She serves as the assistant secretary for the sciences at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She received a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley.
The Presidential Research Lecture is presented by the office for Research, Innovation and Graduate Education. Admission is free. The event will be live-streamed on the UO Channel. Follow the lecture on Twitter at #H2OSurface.
- from the UO Office of Research, Innovation and Graduate Education