Heeger to Speak at 28th Annual
Nobel Laureate Lecture

Dr. Alan J. Heeger, one of three co-winners of the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work in conductive polymers, will speak on Wednesday, March 16, during the 28th annual Nobel Laureate Lecture at CSULB. Admission is free.

Heeger will discuss “Risk and Innovation in Science: A Personal History of the Road to the Nobel Prize” during a general lecture from 11 a.m.-noon, followed by a technical lecture on “Gene Sensors: Detection of Specific Targeted Sequences on DNA” from 4-5 p.m., both in the University Student Union Ballroom.

Heeger, along with Professors Alan G. MacDiarmid of the University of Pennsylvania and Hideki Shirakawa of the University of Tsukuba, Japan, were recognized for their pioneering collaboration on developing plastics that conduct electrical currents.

Heeger is a professor in the Institute for Polymers and Organic Solids and Department of Physics and Materials at UC Santa Barbara. He also co-founded UNIAX Corp., which was acquired by Dupont in 2002 and focuses on developing plastic electronic products. His research led to development of a variety of commercial applications for conductive polymers, from thin, flexible display screens used in a host of consumer electronic products, to anti-static films and “smart” windows that can become opaque. He developed some 40 patents on polymeric materials and processes.

An eminent scholar, Heeger has more than 660 scholarly publications and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering.

The Nobel Laureate Lecture is sponsored by the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (CNSM), CNSM Student Council, Office of the President, Associated Students Inc., and 49er Shops Inc. For additional information, call 562/985-7562