The National Academy of Sciences has elected Johanna Schmitt, the Stephen T. Olney Professor of Natural History at Brown University, to become a member of the society of distinguished scholars. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a scientist or engineer. Schmitt, whose biological research integrates plant evolutionary ecology, physiological ecology, and ecological genomics, is the first female scientist at Brown to be elected into the Academy. 07-155

David Gottlieb, a professor of applied mathematics at Brown University, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the honorary society that includes the world’s leading thinkers. 07-154

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Brown University hosts a three-day forum May 5 to 7, 2008 to highlight the opening of its Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation. The IMNI aims to design products, processes and therapies involving molecular science and nanotechnology, the scientific toolboxes of the 21st Century. 07-152

Chris Berman, ’77, ‘P08, ‘P09 returns to Brown University on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 to deliver a lecture titled "WBRU to ESPN: What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been." The talk starts at 4 p.m. in Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 101 and is free and open to the public. 07-151

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, will deliver a Stephen A. Ogden Jr. ’60 Memorial Lecture on International Affairs on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 6 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 101. The lecture is free and open to the public. 07-150

In the first experiment in a natural environment, Brown University scientists have shown that greater plant diversity significantly enhances an ecosystem’s productivity. The finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscores the importance of biodiversity to an ecosystem’s value, such as capturing the global warming gas carbon dioxide. 07-148

Bestselling author and Brown University alumnus Tony Horwitz returns to Brown to talk about his newest book, A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World. Free and open to the public, the event will be held on Monday, April 28, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. at the John Carter Brown Library, where Horwitz finished the manuscript as a Visiting Fellow last year. 07-145

Brown University researchers have found compelling evidence of thick, recurring glaciers on Mars, a discovery that suggests that the Red Planet’s climate was much more dynamic than previously believed – and could change again. Results are published on the cover of Geology magazine. 07-144

Had John F. Kennedy not been assassinated, would the Vietnam War have happened at all? “Virtual JFK,” a new documentary film and book by James Blight, Janet Lang and Koji Masutani of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, explores what could have been. Their film has its international premiere on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, at Toronto's prestigious Hot Docs film festival. 07-129

The International Writers Project at Brown University presents Under the Tongue: A Festival of Literature from Africa, on Tuesday, April 15 and Wednesday, April 16, 2008. This series of readings and discussions will feature award-winning African novelists Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria), Nuruddin Farah (Somalia), and IWP fellow Chenjerai Hove (Zimbabwe); poet Jack Mapanje (Malawi); and playwrights Pierre Mumbere Mujomba (Congo) and Charles Mulekwa (Uganda). All events are free and open to the public. 07-123