Brian O'Connell 3rd Annual Lecture Series

Public Invited

Constitution Room - Memorial Hall
Central Connecticut State University
New Britain, Connecticut

3:30 PM, April 7, 2011

"American Nerd", Benjamin Nugent

Benjamin Nugent will speak on the American Nerd, a charming and disarmingly serious study of the history of the nerd in popular culture and throughout modern history. Nerd-dom is carefully observed and analyzed, with an eye for connections that lead to unusual places, plus more obvious nerd subjects like the rise of online gaming and the history of American science-fiction clubs. (modified from Amazon)

Copies of American Nerd will be available after the talk.

Directions to campus: http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=1378

I was the Keynote speaker for ISTAS 2001 in Stamford, CT, and Brian was my amiable host. Recently, I was asked to prepare some notes on ethics for my professional society and I remembered most well my time at ISTAS so I started an internet search for its home page. My surprise and shock, as belated as it is, must be no different from that of his friends and colleagues at the time of his death, particularly if they had not known of his illness.

It’s been a while and I was trying to remember what it was that drew us together but drawn we were. A search through my archives indicates that it was slide rules and, perhaps, he introduced me to the Oughtred Society. [...] we sat together over dinner and chatted about my old “slippery stick.”

Lee Saperstein
Nantucket, MA

2010 Brian O'Connell Lecture

The Brian O’Connell Lecture Series is scheduled for April 14th at 3pm in the Constitution Room of the Student Center at Central Connecticut State University.

The speaker is Dr. Joseph R. Herkert on the topic Ethical Challenges of Emerging Technologies.

For directions to campus and a campus map, click here:
http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=1378

Courier Article

ISTAS 2009, Phoenix, AZ

Presentation to Sarah Cox at International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS ‘09), Phoenix, AZ, June 19

Presentation to Sarah Cox at International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS ‘09), Phoenix, AZ, June 19 (left to right: Sarah Cox, Janet Rochester, Joe Herkert)

Pictures From Memorial Lecture

Attendees viewing demonstrations after the lecture.

First Annual Brian O'Connell Lecture

First Annual Brian O'Connell Lecture
May 6th, 2009

NASA Scientist to Speak

Dr. Susan Hoban, Senior Research Scientist for the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences and Research Center, will present a lecture entitled "From STEM to Stern(e): Actually, It Was the Other Way Around - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education today." Dr. Hoban holds the Ph.D. in astronomy and has conducted research in commentary science at Goddard Space Flight Center. In addition to articles in scientific journals, she has also published "Irish Pubs Across America." She has a particular interest in contributing to the STEM foundation of our nation's K-12 educators.

This lecture will be held on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. in the Student Center, Philbrick-Camp Room on the CCSU campus and is part of the activities for the International Year of Astronomy. It is the first of an annual series of lectures in memory of Professor Brian O'Connell of the CCSU Computer Science and Philosophy Departments and is sponsored by Computer Science, Philosophy, Physics & Earth Sciences Departments, and Institutional Advancement.