October 20, 1995 Contact: Jim Burns (408/459-2495)

LECTURE BY UCSC CHANCELLOR WILL EXPLORE CHANGES RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES MUST MAKE TO SERVE 21ST CENTURY SOCIETY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ--Economic uncertainty, changing societal needs, and diminishing public confidence are major challenges facing America's research universities. In a public lecture on November 2, UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Karl S. Pister will describe the forces reshaping higher education in this country--and discuss the changes American universities must make if they are to continue to serve society in the 21st century.

The lecture, "American Universities at a Crossroads," begins at 8 p.m. in the Performing Arts Concert Hall on the UCSC campus. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will launch the campus's 1995-96 Inaugural Lecture series.

Growing cultural diversity, rapid technological advances, and federal budget cuts in research are among the forces rapidly transforming our institutions of higher learning, Chancellor Pister says. "The nation's universities have a splendid record of service to the people of this country, indeed, of the world," he says. "But the challenge to adapt to new societal conditions is urgent, and we cannot afford to fail."

Inaugural Lectures are presented to celebrate a UCSC faculty member's promotion or appointment to the position of full professor. Faculty members are invited to present a talk for general audiences based on an area of current research or interest. Though his affiliation with UCSC began four years ago, Chancellor Pister has never given an Inaugural Lecture.

Before becoming UCSC chancellor in August 1991, Pister served for ten years as dean of UC Berkeley's College of Engineering. Pister earned his Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, after taking his bachelor's and master's degrees at Berkeley. He returned to Berkeley in 1952 to join the Department of Civil Engineering.

Inaugural Lectures are presented by UCSC Arts & Lectures and supported by the Offices of the Chancellor and Executive Vice Chancellor, the Council of Provosts, and University Affiliates.

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