Rice faculty and staff: Join us for the third speaker in our new, informal lunchtime speaker series...

Brought to you by Scientia, the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, and Cohen House

Table Talk is a new program that aims to have people at Rice get to know one another better over casual lunchtime conversation at Cohen House. The idea is simple: come to the Faculty Club, buy your own lunch downstairs, head up to Esther's room by 12:15 and listen to carefully selected Rice faculty or staff members talk for 30 minutes about their research, scholarship or whatever they do that's noteworthy. The speaker will finish by 12:45; then those who can stay may continue on with discussion. Here's the point: We all have to eat lunch anyway, so why not do it in an environment that is pleasant, novel and informative?

The idea for this program grew from a conversation among friends bemoaning how even at small Rice University, most faculty do not know most other faculty first hand and have little idea about their real work. The same holds for staff members who don't know faculty or one another. Most of us have heard about someone at Rice - whom we have not yet met - accomplishing amazing things in their research and scholarship in areas such as bioengineering, history, political sciences, and architecture or running a key center or program on campus.

We will strive to make this monthly program streamlined and enjoyable. Our speakers promise to be clear and accessible, knowing they are speaking about their work casually with intelligent laypeople, not talking shop with department colleagues. We pledge no long-winded introductions or closings; our goal is to make the most of the limited time each of us has.

Following the first two Table Talk presentations (Randy Hulet on March 25 speaking on the behavior of atoms at extremely cold temperatures; and James Tour on April 14 speaking on nonotechnology) we have the final presentation scheduled for this spring:

• Monday, May 5: Rebecca Richards-Kortum
  Richards-Kortum is the Stanley C. Moore Professor and Chair of the Department Bioengineering. Her research centers on non-invasive cancer detection technologies that use high-resolution, optical imaging; the use of fluorescent imaging agents for cancer detection; biophysical studies of the light-scattering properties of cells and tissues; and more.

And coming this fall: Matthias Henze on September 15, with more to follow in October and November!

So please join us for Table Talk in Esther's Room on the second floor of Cohen House. The presentation will begin promptly at 12:15. The room seats 40, so it's first come, first served.

All Rice faculty and staff are welcome, but to eat lunch you must be a Faculty Club member or be a guest of a member. Visit club.rice.edu for details.

For more information, contact Ellen Butler at ext. 4695 or butler@rice.edu.