Speakers: Venkatesh Narayayanmurti (University of Harvard) and Tolu Odumosu (University of Virginia).
Venkatesh (Venky) Narayanamurti is the Benjamin Peirce Research Professor of Technology and Public Policy at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). From 2009 to 2015, he served as the Director of the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the HKS. He obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University and has an Honorary Doctorate from Tohoku University. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the IEEE, and the Indian Academy of Sciences. He has served on numerous advisory boards of the federal government, research universities and industry including service as the Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Engineering from 2011 to 2015. He is the author of more than 240 papers in different areas of condensed matter, applied physics and science and technology policy. He lectures widely on solid state, computer, and communication technologies, energy technology innovation, and on the management of science, technology and research universities.