50th Anniversary Celebration of First Ph.D. Program is Aug. 9-12

WHAT: Celebration of the 50th anniversary of The University of Akron's first doctoral program in polymer chemistry.

WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 9 through Saturday, Aug. 12.

WHERE: Several locations on the UA campus and Goodyear Wingfoot Park.

ETC.: For more information, go to: www.2.uakron.edu/polymer/polymer50/index.html

SCHEDULE:

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 9: Noon to 7 p.m. family picnic at Goodyear's Wingfoot Lake Park on Waterloo Road in Suffield.

THURSDAY, AUG. 10: 8:30 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. Symposia focusing on Emerging Technologies in Polymers.

Morning sessions will be Polymeric Devices by Dr. Timothy Swager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Biomaterials, Dr. Buddy Ratner, University of Washington; and Nanomaterials, Dr. Emmanuel Giannelis, Cornell University.

Afternoon sessions will be Green Chemistry by Dr. Joseph DeSimone, University of North Carolina, and Field-Theoretic Polymer Simulations: At the Frontier by Glenn H. Fredrickson, Mitsubishi Chemical Chair in Functional Materials; director, Mitsubishi Center for Advanced Materials; and professor, chemical engineering and materials departments, University of California at Santa Barbara.

Campus tours will follow.

7 to 9:30 p.m. Reception and banquet hosted by UA President Luis M. Proenza and Dr. Frank Kelley, dean of UA's College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering.

FRIDAY, AUG. 11: 9:30 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. Dr. Proenza will chair a symposium, Impact of Globalization on Technology Policy, featuring Dr. Arden Bement, director of the National Science Foundation, and other speakers. Proenza will conclude the symposium with a presentation.

A cocktail party and student poster session will close the celebration that evening.

SATURDAY, AUG. 12: Local community events for attendees.