Montclair State University

Through a generous donation from Margaret Sokol, the Margaret & Herman Sokol Science Lecture series has been established to help our faculty, students, and the surrounding communities garner a greater appreciation and expanded knowledge of important issues in the sciences. Since Fall 2002, speakers of national and international renown has been invited to spend a day at MSU meeting with faculty and students, guest lecturing in a class, and conducting an evening lecture open to the public. Speakers are selected based on the strong interdisciplinary appeal of their area of expertise and recognition in the public eye. Previous lectures are listed below.

• Fall 2011: "Persistent Physical and Mental Health Effects in World Trade Center Survivors” Dr. Steven D. Stellman is the Director of Research, World Trade Center Health Registry, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center killed over 2800 people and left thousands more with both short- and long-term health problems. These included respiratory effects, such as asthma, as well as mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This talk will review the wide range of reported health effects and how they differ among rescue/recovery workers and volunteers, residents of lower Manhattan, area workers, passersby, and children.
• Spring 2011: “Move a Little. Lose a Lot” Obesity Expert James Levine, MD, PhD, is the Chief of Endocrinology at University Hospital Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, respected researcher, best-selling author, and the inventor of treadmill desk discuss NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, the energy expenditure of all physical activities other than volitional sporting-like exercise.
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• Fall 2010: “Author Bob Reiss Speaks at 2010 Sokol Lecture” Noted bestselling author and journalist, Bob Reiss was the featured speaker at the 2010 Margaret and Herman Sokol Science Lecture held at Montclair State University’s Kasser Theater on October 26. His address, “The Arctic in a Warmer World,” was delivered to a capacity audience of students, faculty, and the public, and included attendees from around the world who were at Montclair State as part of the International Symposium on Sustainability Science.
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• Fall 2009: “Gravitation: From Galileo to Einstein and Beyond” Exploring gravitation through the work of Galileo, Newton, and Einstein, the 2009 Margaret and Herman Sokol Science Lecture, was presented by internationally renowned physicist, Eugenio Coccia at the Alexander Kasser Theater on October 20.
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• Spring 2009: “The Brain: Creating Science Creating Art” Presentations by artist Elizabeth Horowitz. Keynote by neuroscientist Nancy Andreasen, Andrew H Woods Chair of Psychiatry, Director of Neuroimaging Research Center and the mental Health Clinical Research Center, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
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• Spring 2008: “The Environment and Sustainability—the next 100 years”
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• Spring 2007: “Genesis:The Scientific Quest for Life’s Origin" Dr. Robert Hazen, research scientist, the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geophysical Lab. Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Science, George Mason University
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• Fall 2006: “Human Evolution and Progress - How DNA Is Enabling Recovery of the Deep Human Past” Mr. Nicholas Wade, New York Times Science reporter
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• Spring 2006: “Chemistry’s Essential Tension: The Same and Not the Same” Dr. Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters, Cornell University
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• Fall 2005: “Contamination Without Consent: How chemical pollutants in air, food, and water violate human rights” Dr. Sandra Steingraber, Ecologist
• Spring 2005: “Mapping Human History” Mr. Steve Olsen, science journalist 2002 National Book Award nominee
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• Fall 2004: “Are We Alone in the Universe?” Dr. Andrew Knoll, paleontologist, astrobiologist Fisher Professor of Natural History, Harvard University
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• Spring 2004: “Global Infectious Diseases in the Era of Bioterrorism” Dr. Rita Colwell, scientist, educator Past Director of the NSF
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• Fall 2003: “The Coming Plague: Emerging Disease and a World Out of Balance” Ms. Laurie Garrett, medical science journalist
• Spring 2003: “The Elegant Universe” Dr. Brian Greene, string theorist Professor of Physics and Mathematics, Columbia University
• Fall 2002: “Journey Into Wonder: Reflections on a Chemical Boyhood” Dr. Oliver Sacks, neurophysician