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Distributed January 16, 2004
Contact Ricardo Howell



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The Graduate School at 100
Graduate School celebrates centennial, honors EPA research chief

On Tuesday, Feb. 10, the Brown University Graduate School will conclude its centennial celebration with the inaugural presentation of the Horace Mann Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award. Joel Scheraga, director of global change research at the Environmental Protection Agency, will receive the award and deliver the Horace Mann lecture, titled “Political Climate: The Role of Science in the Making of Climate Change Policy.” The event is free and open to the public.


PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Brown University Graduate School will present its inaugural Horace Mann Distinguished Graduate School Alumni Award to Joel Scheraga, national program director of global change research at the Environmental Protection Agency, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004, at 4 p.m. in Sayles Hall on The College Green. Brown President Ruth J. Simmons will present the award to Scheraga, who will then deliver the Horace Mann lecture, titled “Political Climate: The Role of Science in the Making of Climate Change Policy.”

Scheraga

Inaugural Horace Mann Award
Joel Scheraga, national program director of global change research at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will be the first recipient of the Horace Mann Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award, presented by the Brown University Graduate School. He will speak about the political climate and climate change policy at 4 p.m. Feb. 10, 2004, in Sayles Hall.

The presentation and lecture mark the conclusion of the Graduate School’s celebration of its 100th birthday. Throughout 2003 and into 2004, the Graduate School has honored the scholarly contributions of its students, faculty and alumni with a series of celebratory events that recognize the centennial of the “Graduate Department,” formally established in 1903 to confer advanced degrees. The event is co-sponsored by the Environmental Change Initiative, a multidisciplinary educational and research initiative that addresses aspects of environmental change, including geological, human and biogeochemical factors.

The Horace Mann Award for Distinguished Graduate School Alumni honors Horace Mann, Brown Class of 1819, noted statesman, reformer, and father of American public education. The current semester also marks the Graduate School’s move to its new offices in the fully renovated Horace Mann Building, 47 George Street.

Joel Scheraga is national program director for global change research within the EPA’s Office of Research and Development. He is actively involved in both national and international environmental research and assessment activities. At the EPA, Scheraga directs policy-related assessments of the impact of global change on air and water quality, ecosystems and human health. He is also responsible for supervising an extensive research effort, as well as several laboratories and centers. He received his A.B. from Brown in 1976, his A.M in 1979 and his Ph.D. in economics in 1981.

Scheraga is vice chair of the global change program of the World Conservation Union’s commission on protected areas and has been a significant contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the U.S. delegation to the panel. He served as a member of the assessment workgroup of the U.S. Global Change Research Program and from 2000 to 20002 chaired the effort that resulted in the group’s report to Congress on the potential consequences of climate variability and change in the United States.

In 2003, at the invitation of the Swiss Federal Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, he served as a member of the faculty for the first international water management course, held in Switzerland. In addition, he co-authored a report on the effects of climate change on water quality in the Great Lakes region for the U.S.-Canada International Joint Commission’s water quality board. As recognition for his contribution to this project, he was awarded an EPA bronze medal for commendable service in September 2003 – one of five such awards he has received in his tenure at the agency. He served as co-editor and lead author of Climate Change and Human Health: Risks and Responses (2003), released by the World Health Organization.

Prior to joining the EPA, Scheraga served as assistant professor of economics at Rutgers University from 1981 to 1987 and as a visiting professor of economics at Princeton from 1985 to 1986. He has published numerous articles on global climate change, environmental economics, public policy, the integration of science and policy in multidisciplinary programs, and applied microeconomics and microeconomic theory.

This event is free and open to the public. Sayles Hall is handicap accessible, and technical assistance is available for the hearing impaired. Those with special needs who plan to attend should contact the University at least 48 hours prior to the event by calling the Office of Special Events at (401) 863-2474 weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. or, after business hours, Brown Public Safety at (401) 863-3322.

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