“What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked in the Supreme Court case A. Fisher v. the University of Texas.
This year’s Barbara Meyers Pelson ’59 Lecture in Faculty-Student Engagement aims to provide a response to that question. On Tuesday, March 21, Dr. Sylvester James Gates will present “Einstein v. Roberts, Diversity, and Faculty Engagement.” The lecture will take place at 12:30 p.m. in Mayo Concert Hall, and will be followed by a reception.
Dr. Gates is the Distinguished University Professor, University System of Maryland Regents Professor, and John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and received the National Medal of Science from President Obama in 2013. He is the first African-American to hold an endowed chair at a major research university and although he works in advanced theoretical physics, he conducts his research and publishes with undergraduate students. His is a national voice about inclusivity in higher education, and he has written, spoken, and been interviewed widely on this subject. His lecture will offer the TCNJ community a powerful message based on his own personal academic journey, his work developing research opportunities for students, and his national prominence around issues of diversity and inclusivity in faculty-student engagement.