University of Oregon Convocation Celebrates World Year of Physics

Newswise — Oregon's largest public celebration honoring the centennial of Einstein's miracle year will feature string theorist Sylvester James Gates Jr. at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25, in the University of Oregon's McArthur Court. Gates will speak on "Einstein's Lessons for the Third Millennium" during University Convocation, a tradition marking the start of a new academic year. Gates is among the world's most in-demand speakers at events commemorating Einstein's pioneering contributions. Gates, who will be featured this October in a new PBS production, "Einstein's Big Idea" has played a leading role in exploring the most fundamental frontier of theoretical physics. His research focuses on the mathematical and theoretical physics of "supersymmetric" particles, fields, and "strings," including topics such as the physics of quarks, leptons, gravity, super and heterotic strings, and unified field theories of the type first envisioned by Albert Einstein. He co-authored the book "Super Space" and is the first African-American to hold an endowed chair in physics at a major research university in the United States. His work was featured as part of the PBS series "The Elegant Universe" in 2003 and in "Breakthrough: The Changing Face of Science in America" in 1996. Born in 1950, Gates is John S. Toll Professor of Physics and director of the Center for String and Particle Theory at the University of Maryland. He has served as a consultant for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense and Time-Life Books. In 1977, he received the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his bachelor's and doctoral degrees during the 1970s.