MEDIA ADVISORY

May 3, 2007 --
Who: For the first time in the United States, the presidents of 12 premier research universities from around the world will gather at Washington University in St. Louis to discuss ways their institutions are addressing global energy and environmental concerns. From Israel and Turkey in the Middle East, and in Asia from Korea in the north, Indonesia in the south, Japan to the east and India to the west, 20 major research universities have joined Washington University in a partnership — the McDonnell International Scholars Academy — to build cooperation and understanding among people and institutions of the world.

The presidents, including WUSTL Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, will be joined by about 40 international academic leaders representing all 20 university partners in the McDonnell Academy. The university partners engage more than 200,000 of the world's most talented students.

Thomas R. Pickering, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; Hugh Grant, president and CEO of Monsanto Co.; Ralph J. Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences; and John C. Crittendon, the Richard Snell Presidential Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of the Sustainable Technologies program at Arizona State University are among the keynote speakers.

What: The International Symposium on Energy and Environment sponsored by Washington University's McDonnell International Scholars Academy.

Organizers hope the symposium will result in new collaborative research and education projects. "This is part of a general effort at Washington University to create a model for a more global university based on partnerships with a network of the world's leading research institutions," said James V. Wertsch, Ph.D., the Marshall S. Snow Professor in Arts & Sciences and director of the McDonnell Academy.

For more information on the symposium and to see the schedule of activities, go to http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/9271.html.

Where: Simon and Whitaker Halls, Washington University's Danforth Campus

When: May 4-7, 2007

For more detailed information on the program, call Neil Schoenherr (314-935-5235-work or 314-603-0071-cell), Steve Givens (314-935-5408-work or 314-401-2072-cell) or Sue Killenberg McGinn (314-935-5254-work or 314-603-6008-cell)