Joint Science, the intercollegiate department providing more than 50 different science courses for students at CMC, Pitzer, and Scripps, celebrates its 40th anniversary this weekend, with a schedule of events that will include campus tours, Joint Science alumni speakers, and meetings with current students and professors. Activities commence with registration, from 9 to 10 a.m., on Saturday, Oct. 11, and conclude at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12, following a panel discussion on the past and present direction of the Joint Science Department.
The department, housed in the W.M. Keck Science Center, continues to provide state-of-the-art facilities and a flexible curricula to students in applied biology, biology-chemistry, economics and engineering, environmental science, management engineering, neuroscience, science and management, and EEP (environment, economics, and politics).
New buildings and a doubling in the size of the faculty have shared in the success of the program, also resulting in a greater yield of medical school students. Two years ago, 74 percent of the CMC, Pitzer, and Scripps students who applied to medical school were accepted; in 2003, that number rose to 77 percent.
"There's a whole different atmosphere here than in a major university-science department," says Sam Tanenbaum P'86, acting associate dean of Joint Science and an engineering professor at Harvey Mudd College. "We hope that the many CMC students who become leaders in industry and government will understand that it's critically important today to be knowledgeable about science and health issues."
In related activities, Claremont McKenna College Trustees toured the department's science laboratories on Oct. 1 to meet with faculty and students about current research. They also heard a presentation by David Sadava, the Pritzker Family Foundation Professor of Biology, on his own research and teaching on cancer, plus witnessed a rousing display of physics principles in the W. M. Keck Science Center courtyard, by associate professor of physics Scot Gould, including the sledge hammer breaking of a cinder block on his chest while lying on a bed of nails. The evening, culminating in an al fresco dinner among trustees, students, and faculty in the center's courtyard, reflected the program's enduring legacy.
More information, plus a complete listing of planned, 40th anniversary events and details may be found at: http://www.jsd.claremont.edu/40thanniversary/.
Or visit CMC online for a broader history of the department's evolution:
http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/news/cmcmagazine/2004spring/currents/.