Environmentalist / television host to deliver convocation address

Admission is free and the public is invited.

Suzuki is familiar to American television viewers as the host of the eight-part PBS series “The Secret of Life” and his five-part series “The Brain,” which aired on the Discovery Channel. He also hosts the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s television program, “The Nature of Things,” and is well known for explaining the complexities of the natural sciences in a compelling and easily understood way.

Suzuki’s visit to Wake Forest is part of “Science and Technology: The Next Millennium,” a yearlong celebration of scientific inquiry.

Recognized as a world leader in sustainable ecology, Suzuki is a professor in the Sustainable Development Research Institute at the University of British Columbia. He has won the United Nations Environment Medal and UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for Science.

Suzuki is particularly known for exploring the relationship between science and society.

In a 1998 essay that appeared in Science magazine, Suzuki wrote, “Scientists need to learn more about the social ramifications of their activity as revealed by history. We need to understand more intimately the nature of scientific knowledge, its strengths, weaknesses, limits, and how it differs from other ways of knowledge.”

Suzuki is the author of 32 books, including “Introduction to Genetic Analysis” and “Genethics: The Ethics of Engineering Genes,” as well as 11 books for children. He co-authored the 1999 book, “From Naked Ape to Super Species: A Personal Perspective on Humanity and the Global Ecocrisis.” His book, “The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature,” was re-released in 1999.

Suzuki hosted the popular CBC radio program, “Quirks and Quarks,” from 1974-79 and hosted the award-winning CBC television series, “A Planet for the Taking,”as well as dozens of other programs.

Suzuki was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1936. He graduated from Amherst College in 1958 with a degree in biology and earned a doctorate in zoology from the University of Chicago. He is a member of the Order of Canada, one of Canada’s highest honors.

Wake Forest University continues to celebrate “Science and Technology: the Next Millennium” with a variety of spring semester events centered on science and technology topics such as computer security issues, women in science and the state of the environment.

For information, call 336-758-5788 or visit the Web site at www.wfu.edu/yost.