University of Maryland Distinguished Lecture Series (2004-2005)

Note: Everyone is welcome to attend any of these lectures. No tickets are necessary.

Dr. Ruth J. Simmons
President
Brown University
“From the Fifth Ward to Power Street: An American Odyssey” Wednesday, 9 February 2005
4:00 PM
Rm. 0200 Skinner

Dr. Ann M. Graybiel
Walter A. Rosenblith Professor of Neuroscience
Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Our Habitual Lives: How the Brain Makes and Breaks Habits” Thursday, 10 February 2005
4:00 PM
Rm. 1120 Susquehanna

Directions to the University of Maryland and Parking Information:
http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/guest/visitorcenter/directions/
Map of the University of Maryland:
http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/About_UMCP/Maps/

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Ruth J. Simmons
President
Brown University

On 9 November 2000, Ruth J. Simmons became the 18th president of Brown University. Simmons is the first African American to lead an Ivy League institution. She began her academic career at the University of New Orleans as an assistant professor of French and later served as assistant dean of the College of Liberal Arts. She moved to California State University in Northridge in 1977 as visiting associate professor of pan-African studies and acting director of international programs. From 1979 to 1983, she was assistant and later associate dean of graduate studies at the University of Southern California. In 1983 she returned to the East Coast, settling at Princeton University, where she directed Afro-American studies and rose to become associate dean of the faculty. After two years as provost at Spelman College in Atlanta, Simmons returned to Princeton as vice provost, a position she held until she became President of Smith College in 1995.

Simmons’ rise to the Brown presidency has been an extraordinary accomplishment. The 12th child born to sharecroppers in the small East Texas town of Grapeland, Simmons moved with her family to Houston when she was of school age. There her father found employment as a factory worker and her mother worked as a maid; Simmons entered public school. She has written thoughtfully about those years in an autobiographical essay, “My Mother’s Daughter: Lessons I Learned in Civility and Authenticity,” published in the Texas Journal of Ideas, History and Culture (fall/winter 1998).

Ann M. Graybiel
Walter A. Rosenblith Professor of Neuroscience
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A 2002 recipient of the National Medal of Science, Ann M. Graybiel earned a Ph.D. degree from MIT in 1971 and has been a member of the faculty since 1973. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences of the USA in 1988, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991, the Institute of Medicine in 1994, elected Fellow in the American Academy of Neurology in 1997. In 2002, she was awarded the Killian Award, the highest honor given to an MIT professor.

Ann Graybiel has revolutionized our understanding of the functional anatomy and physiology of the brain. She and her group made the pioneering discovery of the fundamental architecture of the large forebrain region known as the basal ganglia, and demonstrated a mechanism of directed neurochemical control of complex brain circuits. Her work provides an understanding of how activity states of the forebrain are controlled and modulated during motor activity, procedural learning and cognition. The work has major clinical relevance for disorders such as Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases; for neuro- psychiatric disorders such as Tourette syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit disorder, and major depression. Graybiel's work directly addresses the issue of how humans can make and break habits, an issue of fundamental importance in human behavior.

For more information, contact Anna Salajegheh at (301) 405-6901, or email her at annasala@wam.umd.edu
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Note: The Graduate School Distinguished Lecture Series was on hiatus in 2003-2004
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Dr. Ruth J. Simmons President Brown University	*“From the Fifth Ward to Power Street: An American Odyssey”*	Wednesday, 9 February 2005 4:00 PM Rm. 0200 Skinner
Dr. Ann M. Graybiel Walter A. Rosenblith Professor of Neuroscience Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology	*“Our Habitual Lives: How the Brain Makes and Breaks Habits”*	Thursday, 10 February 2005 4:00 PM Rm. 1120 Susquehanna
Directions to the University of Maryland and Parking Information: http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/guest/visitorcenter/directions/ Map of the University of Maryland: http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/About_UMCP/Maps/
Note: We have set up an automated email list for individuals to receive updated information about the Graduate School's Distinguished Lecturer Series. Here are the steps to subscribe and unsubscribe to the list. To subscribe: Send a message to majordomo@majordomo.umd.edu The text should be *“subscribe disting_lec”* To unsubscribe: Send a message to majordomo@majordomo.umd.edu The text should be *“unsubscribe disting_lec”*

Ruth J. Simmons President Brown University
On 9 November 2000, Ruth J. Simmons became the 18th president of Brown University. Simmons is the first African American to lead an Ivy League institution. She began her academic career at the University of New Orleans as an assistant professor of French and later served as assistant dean of the College of Liberal Arts. She moved to California State University in Northridge in 1977 as visiting associate professor of pan-African studies and acting director of international programs. From 1979 to 1983, she was assistant and later associate dean of graduate studies at the University of Southern California. In 1983 she returned to the East Coast, settling at Princeton University, where she directed Afro-American studies and rose to become associate dean of the faculty. After two years as provost at Spelman College in Atlanta, Simmons returned to Princeton as vice provost, a position she held until she became President of Smith College in 1995.
Simmons’ rise to the Brown presidency has been an extraordinary accomplishment. The 12th child born to sharecroppers in the small East Texas town of Grapeland, Simmons moved with her family to Houston when she was of school age. There her father found employment as a factory worker and her mother worked as a maid; Simmons entered public school. She has written thoughtfully about those years in an autobiographical essay, “My Mother’s Daughter: Lessons I Learned in Civility and Authenticity,” published in the Texas Journal of Ideas, History and Culture (fall/winter 1998).

Ann M. Graybiel Walter A. Rosenblith Professor of Neuroscience Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	A 2002 recipient of the National Medal of Science, Ann M. Graybiel earned a Ph.D. degree from MIT in 1971 and has been a member of the faculty since 1973. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences of the USA in 1988, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991, the Institute of Medicine in 1994, elected Fellow in the American Academy of Neurology in 1997. In 2002, she was awarded the Killian Award, the highest honor given to an MIT professor.
	Ann Graybiel has revolutionized our understanding of the functional anatomy and physiology of the brain. She and her group made the pioneering discovery of the fundamental architecture of the large forebrain region known as the basal ganglia, and demonstrated a mechanism of directed neurochemical control of complex brain circuits. Her work provides an understanding of how activity states of the forebrain are controlled and modulated during motor activity, procedural learning and cognition. The work has major clinical relevance for disorders such as Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases; for neuro- psychiatric disorders such as Tourette syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit disorder, and major depression. Graybiel's work directly addresses the issue of how humans can make and break habits, an issue of fundamental importance in human behavior.