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Photosynthesis is, arguably, the most important scientific process on earth.
The first major symposium to be held in the new chemistry building will convene Oct. 14 when more than 150 scientists gather, fittingly enough, for the annual Randolph T. Major Memorial Lecture Series. The series, which began in 1966 as the American Cyanamid Lecture Series, has brought 33 of the world's top chemistry scholars to campus, including several Nobel laureates. The title of the series was changed in 1976, when Professor Randolph T. Major died, and officials at Merck and Co., where Major had conducted research for 37 years, endowed the lectureship. Frank says the department strives to bring not only top researchers for the Major Series, but scientists who are committed to education, who will interact with UConn students during the conference. This year's keynote speaker, Sunney I. Chan, a professor of biophysical chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, will deliver lectures each of the three days of the conference, and he will also interact with students during an Oct. 14 banquet and during an Oct. 16 brunch with members of Phi Lambda Upsilon, the student honorary society for chemistry.