Whiting-Turner Lecture Series to Feature Colwell and Langford

The University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering will welcome two distinguished speakers for its Whiting-Turner Business and Entrepreneurial Lecture Series this fall.

Rita Colwell, former Director of the National Science Foundation, will give a talk on Thursday, October 16th entitled “Climate, Oceans, and Human Health: Infectious Diseases in a World of Climate Change.” Colwell’s lecture will cap off the Fischell Festival in Bioengineering: Biomedical Emergency Response portion of the Clark School’s 2014 Mpact Week. This lecture will take place in the Zupnik Lecture Hall, Room 1110 in the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building. The reception will begin at 4:30 pm and the program will start at 5:00 pm. Guests may register for this free event here.

John Langford, who is currently the Chairman and CEO of Aurora Flight Sciences, will speak on Thursday, Novermber 13th. His talk, "Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Unmanned Aircraft Systems," will be given in the Zupnik Lecture Hall, Room 1110 in the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building. The reception will begin at 4:30 pm, followed by the program at 5:00 pm. Guests may register for this free event here.

More about the speakers:

Rita Colwell is Distinguished University Professor both at the University of Maryland at College Park and at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Senior Advisor and Chairman Emeritus of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc., and President and Chairman of CosmosID, Inc. Her interests are focused on global infectious diseases, water, and health, and she is currently developing an international network to address emerging infectious diseases and water issues, including safe drinking water for both the developed and developing world, in collaboration with Safe Water Network, headquartered in New York City.

Dr. Colwell served as the 11th Director of the National Science Foundation, 1998-2004. In her capacity as NSF Director, she served as Co-chair of the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council. Her major interests include K-12 science and mathematics education, graduate science and engineering education and the increased participation of women and minorities in science and engineering.

John S. Langford is the Chairman and CEO of Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, which he founded in 1989. Prior to Aurora, Langford worked for the Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, Virginia. Earlier, Langford worked for the Lockheed Corporation as an engineer on the development of the F-117 stealth fighter, and as an intern at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

In 2014, the National Aeronautics Association (NAA) awarded John the Cliff Henderson Trophy for “significant and lasting contributions to the promotion and advancement of aviation and aerospace in the United States.” He has also received the DeFlorez Prize from MIT (1979), the Kremer Speed Prize from the Royal Aeronautical Society (1984), the Young Engineer of the Year award from the AIAA National Capital Section (1989), the National Tibbets Award for outstanding contributions to the SBIR Program (1996), the Barry M. Goldwater Educator Award from the AIAA (2000), Virginia’s Outstanding Industrialist award from the Commonwealth of Virginia (2004), the President’s Award for Exceptional Service (2008), and the Howard Galloway Award (2014) from the National Association of Rocketry.