Welcome to The Faculty Club Lecture Events
Born To Be Good: The Science of A Meaningful Life
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Greater Good Science Center,
will discuss his new book,"Born To Be Good: The Science of A Meaningful Life." Keltner's
innovative research in the social and behavioral sciences suggests that instincts for good
are built into the human nervous system and the early childhood environment may affect
emotional resilience well into adulthood
Is the New San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge Safe?
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering has been heavily
involved with the bridge, studying and testing retrofit technologies for the Eastern Spans.
His studies have focused on performance of the unknown and untested Self Anchored Single
Tower Bridge system when subjected to earthquakes and car bomb blasts. He will summarize
his studies with regard to safety of the new design when subjected to maximum credible
earthquakes or blast effects. And he will conclude with a solution that can easily and
economically, even now that the bridge is under construction, convert this “self-anchored”
suspension bridge with unknown and unreliable performance to an "anchored" suspension bridge
system, which is the most reliable bridge system.
President Obama's First Hundred Days
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m.
A panel of experts will assess the first hundred days of the Obama Presidency and his
administration’s efforts to address the nation's economic crisis, the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and other crucial issues facing the nation. The panel will feature:
Brad DeLong is a professor in the Department of Economics; a research associate at the
National Bureau of Economic Research; and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank
of San Francisco. From 1993 to 1995 he worked for the U.S. Treasury as a deputy assistant
secretary for economic policy.
Richard Abrams is a Professor of the Graduate School whose work involves, among other
things, the role of business in American life.
Michael Nacht is Professor of Public Policy and former Aaron Wildavsky Dean at the Goldman
School of Public Policy. An expert on U.S. national security and foreign policyand a member
of the U.S. Department of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee, Nacht was assistant
director for Strategic and Eurasian Affairs at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency from
1994-97.
