Distinguished Lectures
Lectures and lecture series play an important role in the academic life of the campus. They allow faculty and students to interact with distinguished leaders who influence disciplines, society, the nation and the world. In addition to delivering a lecture, speakers are invited to participate in other special activities during their visits to campus. Endowed lectures provide the resources to cover the expenses of bringing renowned speakers to campus.
Richard W. Kritzer Distinguished Lecture
Richard W. Kritzer earned a degree in commerce from the University of Illinois in 1916. After World War I, he joined the Peerless Ice Machine Company in Chicago, founded in 1912 by his father, Charles Conrad Kritzer. There, he expanded the company when he became president in 1933, and it was renamed Peerless of America, Inc in 1937. Extruded aluminum tubing for heat exchangers, condenser and evaporator heat exchanges, oil coolers, coils for vending machines, dehumidifier coils, and special application heat exchangers were the company’s main products until Kritzer’s death in 1984. A prolific inventor, he held 75 U.S. patents. The Richard W. Kritzer Distinguished Lecture is supported by the Richard W. Kritzer endowment fund, initiated in 1988.
History of Richard W. Kritzer Distinguished Lectures:
2023: Markus Buehler, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Alwin Schaller Distinguished Lecture
Engineering pioneer and civic leader Alwin Schaller completed his B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1907 and his M.S. in 1912. In the early stages of pressure flooding in oil fields, he studied the effect of adding heat on secondary recovery. His was the first article on the subject ever published in a technical journal, and led to the widespread adoption of thermal recovery. Mr. Schaller was deeply involved in his community, serving as the town supervisor for four terms. He standardized the design of county highway bridges, played a key role in opening the town’s first hospital, and implemented a vocational training program in metalworking to help local industries meet production schedules during World War II.
Mr. Schaller established the Alwin Schaller Endowment Fund in memory of the late mechanical engineering professor George Alfred Goodenough, whom he described as “a major force” in shaping his career. Recognized as an expert in the field of thermodynamics, Professor Goodenough’s interest in specific heat values of gases led him to what was perhaps the first sound thermodynamic analysis of the internal combustion engine process.
History of Alwin Schaller Distinguished Lectures:
2006: Michael Sheetz, Columbia University (inaugural)
2007: Rohan Abeyaratne, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Fall semester)
2007: Ares J. Rosakis, California Institute of Technology (Spring semester)
2008: Albert P. Pisano, University of California, Berkeley
2011: Arun Majumdar, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)
2014: Manfred Morari, ETH Zurich (Fall semester)
2014: Mary C. Boyce, Columbia University (Spring semester)
2015: Raffi Krikorian, Uber Advanced Technologies Center
2016: Gang Chen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2018: David Weitz, Harvard University
Yunchuan Aisinjioro-Soo Distinguished Lecture
Professor and Mrs. S. L. Soo established this lectureship in 1992 to perpetuate the memory of his mother, Yunchuan Aisinjioro-Soo (1899-1991). Born Princess Shansji of Aisinjioro, the last Royal House of China, she took the pen name Yunchuan and became an accomplished poet and artist. Throughout the turmoil of revolution and war, she steadfastly believed that the way for the family to serve the people was through the education of its children.
History of Yunchuan Aisinjioro-Soo Distinguished Lectures:
1993: Chang-Lin Tien, University of California, Berkeley (inaugural)
1994: G. K. Batchelor, University of Cambridge
1998: Forman A. Williams, University of California, San Diego
2000: James R. Rice, Harvard University
2001: Mildred S. Dresselhaus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2002: Roddam Narasimha, Natl. Inst. of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India
2003: L. B. Freund, Brown University
2004: C. K. Law, Princeton University
2005: Jerrold E. Marsen, California Institute of Technology
2006: David B. Bogy, University of California, Berkeley
2007: Steven A. Goldstein, University of Michigan
2008: Robert F. Sawyer, University of California, Berkeley
2010: Sia Nemat-Nasser, University of California, San Diego
2011: Chih-Ming Ho, University of California, Los Angeles
2013: Alexander J. Smits, Princeton University (Fall semester)
2013: Parviz Moin, Stanford University (Spring semester)
2014: Huajian Gao, Brown University
2015: Kenneth Goodson, Stanford University
2016: Eduard Artz, Leibniz Institute for New Materials, and Saarland University, Germany
2018: Lallit Anand, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2019: Arun Majumdar, Stanford University
2021: Andrea Prosperetti, University of Twente, The Netherlands
2023: David Frost, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2024: Thomas Kenny, Stanford University
2025: Gang Chen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lecture
Arthur Newell Talbot was named Professor of Municipal and Sanitary Engineering in charge of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in 1890. He served as head of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics until 1926, and regarded teaching as the most important aspect of his work at the University. The Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lecture is made possible through the support of the Talbot family, in honor of their ancestor’s commitment to learning and teaching.
History of Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lectures:
2007: Robert M. McMeeking, University of California, Santa Barbara
2008: Leon M. Keer, Northwestern University
2009: Norbert Peters, RWTH Aachen University
2010: Ronald J. Adrian, Arizona State University
2011: Philip Holmes, Princeton University
2012: Leon M. Keer, Northwestern University
2013: Zhigang Suo, Harvard University
2014: Alan Needlman, University of North Texas
2015: Gerald F. Fuller, Stanford University
2016: Reiner Kirchheim, University of Gottingen (Spring semester)
2016: Joanna Aizenberg, Harvard University (Spring semester)
2017: J.N. Reddy, Texas A&M University
2018: Morteza Gharib, California Institute of Technology
2019: Howard A. Stone, Princeton University