FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2003

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119

RENOWNED BRAIN RESEARCHER TO SPEAK AT DRAKE APRIL 10

One of the world's foremost brain researchers, Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, will give the Drake University Hawley Foundation Lecture on Thursday, April 10. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will explore art, visual perception and the brain.

The event will begin at 8 p.m. at First Christian Church, 2500 University Ave. A reception will follow in the social hall.

Ramachandran, M.D., Ph.D., is director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and a professor in the psychology department and neurosciences program at the University of California, San Diego. He also is an adjunct professor of biology at the Salk Institute. His critically acclaimed book, "Phantoms in the Brain," has been translated into eight languages and formed the basis for a PBS special.

Newsweek magazine has named Ramachandran a member of "The Century Club," one of the "hundred most prominent people to watch in the next century" for using state-of-the-art technology not just to watch the brain, but to test big ideas such as why we laugh, cry and recognize individual faces.

Ramachandran's lecture is supported by the Hawley Foundation, which was established in 1927 by Des Moines businessman Henry B. Hawley and his wife, Carrie. Sponsors include Drake's Honors Program, Honors Student Council, Center for the Humanities and the Department of Psychology. For more information, call (515) 271-2999.