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Dr. Gregory Robinson to deliver Long Lecture at Westminster College

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Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Dr. Gregory H. Robinson, the UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Georgia, will present the 15th Annual Ken and Nancy Long Chemistry Lecture at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, in the Dietz Sullivan Lecture Hall in Hoyt Science Center on the Westminster College campus.

Robinson’s lecture, “The Chemical Elements of Style: Is the Beautifully Written Scientific Article a Lost Art?,” will discuss why effective communication skills are necessary when engaging the public in discussions about the global challenges that we face, such as climate change, food production and the development of alternative fuels.

“Science, particularly chemistry, will play a critical role as we address these grand challenges. As we grapple with these issues, we surely must concentrate on the science. However, we must also effectively communicate these issues, and our proposed solutions, to the public,” said Robinson. “Since we will be increasingly called upon to engage the public on these issues, we must place greater emphasis on public speaking and writing skills as we train the next generation of scientists. Elegant science should be accompanied by eloquently written manuscripts.”

Robinson’s research focuses on studying problems related to structure and bonding in organometallic compounds, specifically the synthesis, stabilization and structure of compounds with multiple bonds between heavier main group elements.

He has been a faculty member at the University of Georgia since 1995 and has published findings in more than 170-peer reviewed journal articles, written a book, several book chapters, and presented at conferences across the nation and internationally. He completed his Ph.D. in 1984 at the University of Alabama.

Presented by Westminster’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the lecture series is funded by Dr. Ken Long, Westminster professor of chemistry emeritus, and his wife, Nancy, to invite chemists to speak with students on campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Dr. Peter Smith, professor of chemistry, at smithpm@westminster.edu or 724-946-7299.