WestConn Chemist To Lecture

DANBURY — The contemporary realities and future challenges of living beneath the mushroom cloud of nuclear weapon proliferation will be the theme of a Western Connecticut State University lecture to be presented by Professor of Chemistry Dr Russ Selzer on Monday, December 11.

Dr Selzer, a WestConn faculty member and specialist in physical chemistry, will discuss “The Nuclear Dilemma: History, Facts and Issues for Today.” His lecture will begin at 7:30 pm in Room 219 of the Science Building on WestConn’s midtown campus at the corner of Osborne Street and Dr James Roach Avenue. The talk, part of the continuing “Science at Night” series sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences, will be free and the public is invited.

Dr Selzer’s talk will cover the history of nuclear weapons, “from their discovery, development, and first uses to their modern-day manifestations.” He also will discuss the present state of global nuclear proliferation, a topical theme thrust back into the headlines in recent months by North Korea’s apparently successful nuclear test and Iran’s refusal to bow to international pressure to freeze its ongoing nuclear program.

“Since the early 1940s, human beings have lived with the specter of atomic weapons and their potential to cause massive devastation,” Dr Selzer observed. “Almost 70 years later, we are still confronted with the continued threat that these weapons may be used by countries or terrorists.”

Dr Selzer earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. His recent research has focused on the synthesis and the laser flash photolysis characterization of the photophysical and photochemical properties of water-soluble porphyrins. Porphyrins are organic compounds found in protoplasm and in various fundamental organic substances including hemoglobin, chlorophyll, and enzymes.

The WestConn “Science at Night” series presents lectures on a wide spectrum of scientific themes, in a format designed to advance scientific understanding by the general public. For more information, call 837-9365 or 837-8773.