Warren Buck

Since July 1999, Warren W. Buck has been chancellor of the University of Washington, Bothell, one of the three University of Washington campuses. As chancellor, Dr. Buck is responsible for overseeing and maintaining the high-quality academic programs characteristic of the University of Washington. Prior to joining the University of Washington, Buck was one of a prominent team that established the scientific program at the Department of Energy’s Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Virginia. While at Hampton University, where he taught physics, Buck was founding director of the Nuclear/High Energy Physics Research Center of Excellence (NuHEP), one of the leading research groups in nuclear/high energy physics today. As a graduate student of theoretical high-energy nuclear physics at the college of William and Mary, Buck received a National Science Foundation fellowship/traineeship. He was the founding president of the Student Minority Association and remained active in his service to the black college community. In 2001 Chancellor Buck received the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Mathematics, Science and Engineering (MSE) Network 2001 Giants in Science Award, which recognizes outstanding teachers, mentors, and role models. Buck is the most recent recipient of the Hulon Willis Association Impact Award for his service to the African-American community while at the College of William and Mary.

Mary Doria Russell

Mary Doria Russell was born in suburban Chicago in 1950 to a Navy nurse and a Marine Corps drill Sergeant. She was educated in Catholic schools and later converted to Judaism. Dr. Russell earned a BA in cultural anthropology at the University of Illinois, an MA in social anthropology at Northeastern University, and a Ph.D. in biological anthropology at the University of Michigan. A paleoanthropologist with specialties in bone biology and biomechanics, Dr. Russell did extended field work in Australia and Croatia. During the 1980s she taught human gross anatomy at Case Western Reserve University. Before leaving academe to become a full time writer, Dr. Russell wrote scientific articles on topics ranging from bone biology to cannibalism. Her novels have struck a deep chord with readers for their respectful but unblinking consideration of fundamental religious questions. The Sparrow and Children of God, both bestsellers, have been translated into over a dozen languages and are used as core texts for several university orientation programs. Dr. Russell has received seven national and international literary awards including the Arthur C. Clarke Award. She holds an honorary doctorate from LeMoyne College.

John Fenn

John Fenn received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1940, returning later to become a faculty member of the Department of Chemical Engineering. There he taught from 1967 to 1987 and began his research on electrospray ionization. In 2002 his continued research earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Kurt Wuethrich of Switzerland and Koichi Tanaka of Japan. "Their work," said Bengt Norden, chairman of the Nobel committe for chemistry, "has paved the way for the future finding of a cure for cancer." Dr. Fenn is the author of a book and more than 100 papers in scientific journals and the holder or co-holder of 19 patents. He has taught at the University of Trent, the University of Tokyo, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a research institute in Bangalore. He is currently a research professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.
(Click here to review the article "University Education and Applied Science" to which Professor John Fenn referred in his plenary address.)