NewsMakers

Christian Gauss Seminars in Criticism

Seyla Benhabib, professor of government, senior research fellow at the Center for European Studies, and chair of the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, has been chosen to give the Christian Gauss Seminar in Criticism on May 5, 6, and 12 at Princeton University.

Gauss speakers are chosen by a committee that represents a wide range of interests and intellectual persuasions, and seeks speakers whose work is challenging across disciplines. Benhabib's seminar, "Democracy and Identity: Problems of Membership in the Global Era," will consist of three lectures: "Strange Multiplicities: The Politics of Identity/Difference in a Global Context"; "Multiculturalism and Deliberative Democracy"; and "Who Are We? Dilemmas of Citizenship in Contemporary Europe."

Halperin to Participate in Summit on Retirement Income Savings

Daniel Halperin, the Stanley S. Surrey Professor of Law, will take part in the first national summit on retirement income savings hosted by President Clinton on June 4 and 5. The president, in consultation with the congressional Democratic leadership, chose the 100 summit participants.

At the conclusion of the summit, recommendations will be drafted as to what the private and public sectors can do to promote pension and individual savings.

Ernst Mayr Receives Prize from Rockefeller University

Ernst Mayr, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology Emeritus, has been awarded the Lewis Thomas Prize: Honoring the Scientist as Poet. Presented by Rockefeller University, the prize honors Mayr for his extraordinary achievements as an evolutionary biologist, historian, philosopher, and writer.

In his many works, directed at the scholar and general reader alike, Mayr has proved himself an epic chronicler of the evolution of human understanding of the living world and an original and forceful philosophical proponent of the unique intellectual character of the life sciences.

Walter C. Willett to Receive MSU Honorary Degree

Next week, an honorary degree from Michigan State University (MSU) will go to Walter C. Willett, Fredrick Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition in the Faculty of Public Health, for major contributions in his field.

Willett attended MSU from 1963 to 1966, where he majored in food science and nutrition. He attended the University of Michigan Medical School, and later earned his master's of public health and his doctorate in public health in epidemiology from Harvard's School of Public Health.

Best known for his development of the field of nutritional epidemiology, Willett has particularly focused on the effects of nutrition on heart disease and cancer.