Public Encouraged to Attend Conversation with U.S. Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin, Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough, and Retired Rensselaer Board Chairman and Member Samuel F. Heffner

On May 27, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will continue its annual tradition of inviting the campus and Capital Region communities to attend and participate in a far-reaching discussion with some of the nation’s most important and vibrant thinkers.

SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON, PH.D. REGINA M. BENJAMIN, M.D., MBA G. WAYNE CLOUGH, PH.D. SAMUEL F. HEFFNER JR. ’56, B.A.

Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson will join this year’s Commencement speaker and honorands for the 2011 President’s Colloquy, titled “The Architecture of Change: Action to Impact.”

This year’s participants are:

• Regina M. Benjamin | 18th Surgeon General of the United States
• G. Wayne Clough | 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
• Samuel F. Heffner Jr. ’56 | Retired Rensselaer Board of Trustees Chairman

The Colloquy will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 27, in the Concert Hall of the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC).

To RSVP for the free event, visit: http://www.rpi.edu/about/colloquy/

A key question for this year’s Colloquy is: What can committed innovators across different sectors teach us about how best to meet the great challenges of our time? According to President Jackson, the Rensselaerean ideal is to take on the problems of the day and find practical solutions. From responding to the flooding of the Mississippi River, to fostering the political awakening in North Africa and the Middle East, impactful change requires a clear foundation of values that builds on past achievements and allows for the potential of renewal and reinvention. This kind of progress, in the form of change, requires leaders who can motivate others to action.

A tradition launched after President Jackson was named 18th president of Rensselaer in 1999, the annual President’s Colloquy is aimed at allowing the public to listen to an engaging discussion by high-profile academic, government, and other leaders invited to participate in Commencement on the following day. Since then, the Institute has conducted the annual colloquy to allow Commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients to share their wisdom and experience with a broader audience while they visit the Capital Region.

Participant Profiles:

SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON, PH.D. , moderator, is the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Since taking office in 1999, she has led an extraordinary transformation of the university under the visionary Rensselaer Plan, including new platforms for education and research such as the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, the Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations, and the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. A theoretical physicist, she chaired the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1995 to 1999, and currently is a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Described as a “national treasure” by the National Science Board, she is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Philosophical Society, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and other professional societies, and a director or trustee on a number of prestigious boards.

REGINA M. BENJAMIN, M.D., MBA , is the 18th Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service. One of the world's leading experts on public health and a key player in the national debate on health care reform, Dr. Benjamin has pledged to develop programs to fight preventable illness. She is the founder and former CEO of the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Ala. She was named by TIME magazine as one of the “Nation's 50 Future Leaders Age 40 and Under” and was the first physician under age 40 and the first African-American woman to be elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees. A member of the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, in 2008 Dr. Benjamin received a MacArthur Fellowship — the “Genius Award.”

G. WAYNE CLOUGH, PH.D. , the 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, leads the world’s largest museum and research complex. Clough has envisioned a new era for the Smithsonian, expanding its global relevance and helping the nation shape its future through research, education, and scientific discovery on major topics of the day. To ensure its vast collection is accessible and available, he is leading the effort to digitize much of the 137 million objects in the collection and use the World Wide Web and Smithsonian experts and scholars to reach out to new audiences in the United States and around the world. Before his appointment to the Smithsonian, Clough was president of the Georgia Institute of Technology for 14 years where he completed a building program of more than $1 billion that incorporated sustainable design. Clough is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

SAMUEL F. HEFFNER JR. ’56, B.Arch. , launched a career in the real estate development business that has spanned nearly 50 years. He is the founder and president of Dickinson-Heffner Inc., a building and land development firm that has developed several million square feet of office and industrial space in the Baltimore region, primarily in the vicinity of Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport. He has served on numerous civic boards and is a founder and former chair of the BWI Business Partnership Inc, devoted to the fostering of economic development and transportation interests by businesses in the BWI area. He was a member of the Rensselaer Board of Trustees for 33 years and served as board chair for 15 years, retiring in December 2010.

The 2011 Rensselaer Commencement will be held on Saturday, May 28, at 9:30 a.m. in the stadium at the East Campus Athletic Village, on the Rensselaer campus. For more details on Commencement, visit: http://www.rpi.edu/academics/commencement/index.html.

Contact: Mark Marchand
Phone: (518) 276-6098
E-mail: marchm3@rpi.edu