The Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs and the William T. Patten Foundation have announced the speakers for the 2023-24 Patten Lecture Series: Michael Oppenheimer and Jad Abumrad.

Michael Oppenheimer. Photo by Egan Jimenez Michael Oppenheimer, the Albert G. Milbank Professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, will lecture during the week of Oct. 23, 2023.

Oppenheimer is one of the key contemporary figures working at the boundary of climate science and policy. He is a geoscientist, providing critical scientific expertise on one of humanity’s most pressing problems.

His work on atmospheric science has included issues of acid rain, ozone depletion, greenhouse gases’ effects in the atmosphere, ice sheet dynamics and sea-level change. He has been a leading spokesperson for the scientific community on societal responses to climate change.

Jad Abumrad. Photo by Cubie King Jad Abumrad is a Distinguished Research Professor in cinema and media arts and communication of science and technology at Vanderbilt University. He will lecture during the week of April 1, 2024.

Abumrad, a musical composer, radio producer, performer and writer, is best known for having created, produced and starred in several National Public Radio and American Public Radio series, including “Radiolab,” “More Perfect” and “Dolly Parton’s America.”

His radio work has earned him great public and critical recognition, including three Peabody Awards and a 2011 MacArthur Fellow award. He joined the faculty at Vanderbilt after retiring from “Radiolab” in 2022.

The William T. Patten Foundation

The William T. Patten Foundation, endowed by a student of the IU class of 1893, provides generous funds to bring to the Bloomington campus for a week people of extraordinary national and international distinction in the sciences, the humanities and the arts. Past lecturers have included Oscar Arias, Jorge Luis Borges, Noam Chomsky, Natalie Zemon Davis, Umberto Eco, Julian S. Huxley, Evelyn Fox Keller, Toni Morrison, Martha Nussbaum, Amos Oz, Helmuth Rilling, Edward Said, Amartya Sen, Wole Soyinka, Rene Thom, Thomas Schelling, Strobe Talbott and Lester Thurow.

Inquiries about the Patten Foundation, the Patten Lecture Series and future nominations may be directed to vpfaa@indiana.edu.