Invitation to University Professor and Volen Center Celebration
Oct. 17, 2019
Dear Members of the Brandeis Community,
On Sunday, Nov. 17, we will celebrate Brandeis faculty members Eve Marder and Irving Epstein for their being named University Professors—the highest designation the university accords to our faculty. I would like to invite you to an afternoon symposium to recognize Professors Epstein and Marder, as well as the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems, where they have done much of their important work.
The title of University Professor is awarded to those scholars who cross disciplinary boundaries, who have achieved exceptional distinction within their academic community, and whose appointment enhances the university’s reputation and prestige.
Marder, the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield University Professor of Neuroscience, studies the dynamics of small neuronal networks. Her research was instrumental in demonstrating that neuronal circuits are not “hard-wired,” but can be reconfigured by neuromodulatory neurons and substances to produce a variety of outputs. Epstein, the Henry F. Fischbach University Professor of Chemistry, examines nonlinear chemical dynamics, particularly pattern formation, oscillating reactions, chaos and the behavior of complex networks.
Since its founding, the Volen Center has been a significant example of the university’s collaborative and intellectually curious spirit. The center fosters interactions among its mix of neuroscientists, mechanistic biochemists, linguists and computer scientists, leading to many interdisciplinary projects. Both Epstein and Marder were instrumental, 25 years ago, in the opening of the bricks-and-mortar Volen building, which has since served as a home to many Brandeis faculty and students involved in the study of the brain and intelligence.
The Nov. 17 symposium will begin at 1 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium with a panel discussion, “Oscillators: Chemicals, Neurons and People,” where we will hear about the relationships and research at the heart of the Volen Center. The panel discussion will be followed by personal addresses by our new University Professors. Professor Epstein will reflect on “How I Wandered into an Oscillatory State,” and Professor Marder will speak about “The Challenges Posed by Neuronal Oscillators that are both Stable and Plastic.”
Read more information about the Nov. 17 celebration. I hope you can join us.
Best regards,
Lisa M. Lynch, Provost