The National Library is organising the inaugural Four Conversations, where four local and international thought-leaders will be brought together to share their real-world insights for the future. More details are given below.
Please click here to register.
Cost: Free admission
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
PROFESSOR ROBERT ROOT-BERNSTEIN
Bob Root-Bernstein is a scientist, historian, and artist at Michigan State University. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Princeton University, followed by post-doctoral studies at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where he became a MacArthur Fellow. He is currently a Professor of Physiology at Michigan State University where he also studies the creative process in sciences and arts. He is widely known for his research concerning the benefits of integrating arts into science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and practices what he preaches by exhibiting his own artwork and by collaborating with the transmedia artist Adam W. Brown (http://adamwbrown.net).
PROFESSOR SIR DAVID LANE
Sir David Lane is one of the scientists credited with the landmark discovery of cancer gene p53 in 1979. p53, called the “Guardian of the genome” is the most frequently mutated gene in human cancer as more than half of human tumours contain such alterations. He was previously the Director of the Cancer Research UK Cell Transformation Research Group and Professor of Oncology at the University of Dundee in Scotland. He had also held the position of Chief Scientist with Cancer Research UK and was the Scientific Director of the Ludwig Institute. Sir David is currently Chief Scientist of Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research and Chairman of Chugai Pharmbody Research Pte Ltd which he helped to attract to Singapore.
DR ISMAIL SERAGELDIN
Ismail Serageldin is the Founding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), the new Library of Alexandria in Egypt. He serves on many boards and advisory committees for various international institutions. A graduate of Cairo and Harvard (Phd) He has held many important international positions, including Vice President of the World Bank (1992-2000), and professor at the Collège de France, Paris, (2010-2011). He is a member of many academies, including the US National Academy of Sciences. He lectures widely, and has delivered the Mandela Lecture in Johannesburg (2011). Serageldin has published over 100 books and monographs and over 500 papers on a wide range of topics, and has received over 30 honorary doctorates.
MS LYDIA LIM
Lydia is a career journalist who started out as a television producer of current affairs programmes before moving to print journalism. She has worked at Singapore’s largest newspaper, The Straits Times, since 1999. For most of her career, she has specialised in covering Singapore politics and policies, journalism beats that have taken her around the island and the world, including to international courts in Hamburg and the Hague for two historic cases in which Singapore went up against Malaysia over reclamation and Pedra Branca. In her current job, she edits the paper’s Opinion pages. She also writes a column in the Sunday edition of the paper.
This event is organised by the National Library, in conjunction with the National Reading Movement. The National Reading Movement is a five-year initiative by the National Library Board (NLB) to promote reading in Singapore. It aims to encourage all to Read More by setting aside some time to read regularly, Read Widely by going beyond the usual genres and reading in mother tongue languages, and to Read Together with family and friends. Be part of the movement on facebook.com/readingnationsg.