Alan Lightman, renowned physicist, M.I.T. professor, novelist and essayist, will visit Agnes Scott College Oct. 7 – Oct. 9 to discuss his work to empower a new generation of women leaders in developing countries through the Harpswell Foundation as well as discuss his writing and beliefs.
On Oct. 7, Lightman will present a public lecture, titled “The Intersection of Art and Science,” at 7:30 p.m. in Presser Hall. Lightman presents this lecture as a Scholar-in-Residence of the ASC Women’s Global Leadership Center. The lecture is free and open to the public, and a book signing will follow immediately.
Lightman will also discuss his beliefs on Oct. 9 at 10:10 a.m. in the Julia Thompson Smith Chapel during the college’s weekly “ASC Believes” program. His essay on his beliefs also appeared on National Public Radio’s “This I Believe” series, after which the college modeled its program.
And finally, Lightman, author of the international bestselling Einstein’s Dreams, will hold an open forum Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. for questions about the novel, which is this year's common reading book for all Agnes Scott first-year students. The forum is free and open to the public. It will be held in the Winter Theatre of the Dana Fine Arts Building.
While here, Lightman will also participate in several other gatherings of the campus community.
In 1999, Lightman founded the Harpswell Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide opportunities to disadvantaged young people in Cambodia, with emphasis on empowering a new generation of women leaders in developing countries through housing, education and leadership training.
In June 2005, the Harpswell Foundation completed a four-room school building in the village of Tramung Chrum, about 50 miles from Phnom Penh. In July 2006, the Foundation completed a dormitory and leadership center for college women in Phnom Penh, which allows outstanding women to attend college. This dormitory serves all the colleges in Phnom Penh and is one of the first dormitories in Cambodia. Not having a safe place to live while attending college has been the major obstacle preventing young women from outside Phnom Penh (more than 90 percent of the population) to receive a college education and become leaders. Colleges in Cambodia do not provide housing for their students. Male students can live in the Buddhist temples, but female students cannot.
The dormitory and leadership center houses 36 women, who have been selected on the basis of their intelligence, ambition and leadership potential. In addition to providing free housing, the facility gives these young women food; free classes in English, French and computer skills; readings and discussion of current events in Cambodia and the world; and a weekly leadership seminar.
Lightman was educated at Princeton University and at the California Institute of Technology where he received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics. He has served on the faculties of Harvard University and M.I.T. and was the first person to receive dual faculty appointments at M.I.T. in science and the humanities.
As a physicist, Lightman has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of relativistic gravity, black holes, globular clusters and radiative processes. Lightman is the author of five novels, two collections of essays, a book-length narrative poem and several books on science. His shorter pieces have appeared in The Atlantic, Granta, The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, among other publications.
His novel Einstein’s Dreams has been translated into 30 languages. His novel The Diagnosis was a finalist for the 2000 National Book Award in fiction. Lightman is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and won the 1996 Andrew Gemant Award of the American Institute of Physics for linking science and the humanities.
Lightman is the first Scholar-in-Residence in the Women’s Global Leadership Center at Agnes Scott. His visit was funded by the Phi Beta Kappa McNair Lecture Fund.
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Agnes Scott College educates women to think deeply, live honorably and engage the intellectual and social challenges of their times. Students are drawn to Agnes Scott by its excellent academic reputation, exceptional faculty, and metropolitan Atlanta location – offering myriad cultural and experiential learning opportunities. A diverse and growing residential community of scholars, this highly selective liberal arts and sciences college is known for its dynamic and challenging intellectual community. Encouraging students to engage the wider world through study abroad and presenting its curriculum with international context, Agnes Scott College delivers on its promise: The World for Women.