EVENT:	The George Washington University Laureate Lecture Series features 1988 Nobel Prize Winner Leon Max Lederman who will discuss "The Survival of American Science: Modest Proposals." The Lecture Series was established in cooperation with the Phi Beta Kappa Society to provide an opportunity for members of the University and Washington, DC metropolitan communities to learn from individuals who have distinguished themselves in their fields of expertise.
WHEN:	Monday, October 7, 1996 4:30 p.m. Reception to follow lecture
WHERE:	The George Washington University Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre 800 21st Street, NW Washington, DC (Foggy Bottom/GWU Metro, blue and orange lines)
COST:	Free and open to the public.

Background:

Dr. Leon Max Lederman served as director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois from 1979-1989 and now serves as director emeritus. He is also the Pritzker Professor of Science at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Lederman's research has spanned four decades and includes many remarkable achievements. In 1955 he and his team from Columbia University discovered the long-lived neutral K-meson particle. In 1961 he and his group discovered the muon neutrino, providing the first proof that there is more than one type of neutrino, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1988.

In 1991 Lederman received the first Sidney Hook Memorial Award from Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society, for his career achievement and his work with the Chicago public schools. Phi Beta Kappa is headquartered in the District and since 1993 has been sponsoring a series of summer institutes in the arts and sciences for the city's secondary school teachers.

He has also served as chairman of the board and past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Among his numerous awards are the National Medal of Science (1965) and the Wolf Prize in Physics.

Lederman has long recognized the importance of science education to the intellectual and economic health of society. While director of the Fermilab, he opened the laboratory to countries not previously associated with high energy physics. He also initiated more than 15 programs introducing topics in modern physics to high school students, elementary school teachers and college professors. His vision and leadership recently brought into existence the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, the first state-wide residence high school for gifted children, and the Teachers Academy of Mathematics and Science in Chicago.

Lederman earned his bachelor's of science degree from City College of New York in 1943, and served in the United States Army until 1946, leaving as first lieutenant in the Signal Corps. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1951.

Located four blocks from the White House, The George Washington University was created by an Act of Congress in 1821. Today, GW is the largest institution of higher education in the nation's capital. The University offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study as well as degree programs in medicine, law, engineering, education, business/public management and international affairs. Each year GW enrolls a diverse population of 19,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and some 100 countries.

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