MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- Richard A. Meserve, president of the Carnegie Institution, international expert on nuclear energy and Tufts University alumnus will speak on the impact of the Fukushima nuclear plant accident and receive the first Vannevar Bush Dean's Medal from Tufts School of Engineering on Monday, April 4, at 3 p.m. in Anderson Hall.
Meserve will address stabilization of the Fukushima reactors; health effects; cleanup challenges; likely impacts on nuclear engineering, construction and regulation; and the need for planning for extreme events of all kinds.
Meserve chaired the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission prior to becoming president of the Carnegie Institution in April 2003. He is a member of President Obama's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future and chairman of the International Nuclear Safety Group, which is chartered by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"Dr. Meserve's distinguished career and international leadership in nuclear safety, law and public policy make him a most-deserved first recipient of this award, which is the highest public honor bestowed by our school," said Linda M. Abriola, dean of Tufts School of Engineering.
The Vannevar Bush Dean's Medal, originally the Dean's Medal, is awarded to an internationally recognized technology leader who has contributed substantially to the betterment of society through not only extraordinary technical achievement but also significant contributions at the intersection of engineering and other fields. In collaboration with the Tufts Institute for Global Leadership, the Dean's Medal was recently renamed to honor distinguished Tufts alumnus Vannevar Bush. Bush earned a B.S. and M.S. from Tufts in 1913. He was elected president of the Carnegie Institution in 1938 and was instrumental in establishing the National Science Foundation.
In addition to his Tufts degree, Meserve holds a degree from Harvard Law School and earned his Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford. Among other affiliations, he is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Philosophical Society and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, the National Commission on Energy Policy, and Phi Beta Kappa.
Tufts University School of Engineering is dedicated to educating the technological leaders of tomorrow. Located on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus, the School of Engineering offers a rigorous engineering education in an environment characterized by the best blending of a liberal arts college atmosphere with the intellectual and technological resources of a world-class research university. Close collaboration with the School of Arts and Sciences and the university's extraordinary collection of excellent professional schools creates a wealth of educational and research opportunities. The School of Engineering's primary goal is to educate engineers committed to the innovative and ethical application of technology in the solution of societal problems. It also seeks to be a leader among peer institutions in targeted areas of interdisciplinary research and education that impact the well-being and sustainability of society, including bioengineering, sustainability and innovation in engineering education.
The Carnegie Institution for Science has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research since 1902. It is a private, nonprofit organization with six research departments throughout the U.S. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.
