News from Gustavus Adolphus College

Office of News Services ~ 800 W. College Ave. ~ St. Peter, MN 56082-1498

Director Stacia Senne ~ (507) 933-7510 ~ ssenne@gustavus.edu

Gustavus Adolphus College’s Annual Nobel Conference, Oct. 2-3,
to Celebrate 100th Anniversary of the Nobel Prizes

Nobel Laureates and Others to Discuss Future Scientific Issues and Discoveries

ST. PETER, Minn. (May 3, 2001) – The future of science, new discoveries in cell biology, chemistry, and genetics, and the role of ethics in applications of these discoveries are the focus of a public conference Oct. 2-3 at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. Topics such as mad cow disease and prions, genomics and proteomics, and fullerenes and nanotubes will be among those discussed by leading world scientists and science writers at Nobel Conference XXXVII "The Second Nobel Century: What Is Still to Be Discovered?" A special tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prizes, the conference features a distinguished group of speakers, including five Nobel laureates, two highly regarded science writers, and the chair of the committee that awards three of the Nobel Prizes.

Conference Presenters and Lecture Titles

Günter Blobel, recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine, “Protein Targeting”
Edmond Fischer, recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine, “How Proteins Speak with One Another in Cell Signaling”
Roald Hoffmann, recipient of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, “Science and Ethics: A Marriage of Necessity and Choice for This Millennium”
Sir Harold Kroto, recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, “Science, a Round Peg in a Square World”
Stanley Prusiner, recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine, “Mad Cow Disease, Demented People, and the Biology of Prions”
Cornelia Dean, editor of science news at The New York Times and author of Against the Tide: The Battle for America’s Beaches (1999), moderator and responder
Sir John Maddox, former editor of Nature and author of What Remains to Be Discovered: The Agenda for Science in the Next Century (1998), “What Remains to Be Discovered”
Erling Norrby, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, “A Century of Nobel Prizes”

“Gustavus Adolphus College is privileged to host the annual Nobel Conferences and is excited to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prizes,” said Gustavus President Axel Steuer. “These educational conferences, established as a living memorial to Alfred Nobel, have brought to the college scores of Nobel laureates, hundreds of other prominent scholars, and thousands of lay participants from around the world to explore the leading scientific and philosophical issues of our age. Nobel Conference XXXVII brings together Nobel laureates and science writers to give us a foretaste of what the next big discoveries might be, as we look toward ‘The Second Nobel Century.’”

The Gustavus Nobel Conference attracts about 6,000 people annually and is the first formal lecture program in the world (outside of Sweden and Norway, where Nobel prizes are awarded) to have the official authorization of The Nobel Foundation.

This year's conference will also feature the premiere of The Nobel Symphony, a six-movement piece that Gustavus commissioned American composer Steve Heitzeg to create in commemoration of the centennial of the Nobel Prizes. This major work -- based on prizes in chemistry, economics, physics, physiology/medicine, literature and peace -- is for orchestra, chorus, children's choir, soloists, and narrator. Some of the movements will incorporate textual excerpts from the writings or spoken words of several Nobel laureates, including Bishop Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, Martin Luther King Jr., Dag Hammarskjöld, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and Toni Morrison. The Gustavus Orchestra, college instrumental and choral ensembles, and others will present the symphony.

Each conference lecture will be approximately one hour and followed by a question-and-answer panel session. Conference tickets are $30 per person or $100 per school delegation of 50 people or less and $150 per school delegation of 51 people or more. For more information, contact the Gustavus Office of Public Relations at (507) 933-7520 or visit gustavus.edu/nobel.

About Gustavus Adolphus College
Gustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minn. (one hour south of Minneapolis) that prepares 2,500 undergraduates for lives of leadership, service, and lifelong learning. The oldest Lutheran college in Minnesota, Gustavus was founded in 1862 by Swedish immigrants and named for Swedish King Gustav II Adolf. At Gustavus, students receive personal attention in small-sized classes and engage in collaborative research with their professors. Fully accredited and known for its strong science, writing, music, athletics, study-abroad, and service-learning programs, Gustavus hosts a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and is internationally recognized for its annual Nobel Conference.

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