Newsletter Volume 12 Issue 9 - April 2026 | | |
Lunch Colloquium with Craig Hill
Monday, April 13, 2026
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Craig Hill
Goodrich C. White Professor of Science
MONDAY, April 13, 2026
The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road -- Room 130
11:30am-1:00pm
“Solar Fuel. The ideal energy source to power our civilization?"
Our planet faces dual and existential challenges: having sufficient energy to power our civilization and saving the planet’s environment. One of the largest technological foci at present, AI notwithstanding, is to find green sources of energy that are economically viable on a global scale. The main sources of green energy now, wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal, hydroelectric and variations of these, all have promise but none except solar has the capacity to “power the planet”. There are two forms of solar energy (conversion of sunlight into stored energy): solar electricity from solar panels, etc., and solar fuel. We have the former at scale presently and are limited here largely by having sufficient batteries for electricity storage on the required planetary scale. In contrast, we don’t yet have economically viable solar fuel. Fuel is generally ~60 times as energy dense as a charged Li ion battery, the highest energy density type of battery commercially viable at present. Furthermore, fuel, in principle, can be stored indefinitely. Thus, solar fuel is far more desirable to obtain directly than solar electricity. I will discuss approaches to solar fuel including our multi-institution team’s long-time efforts in this area.
About Craig L. Hill:
Professor Hill received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975, served as an NSF postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, was a faculty member at U. C. Berkeley, then moved to Emory University where he has been Goodrich C. White Professor of Science since 1986 (Emeritus, September, 2025). His research encompasses fundamental structural and reactivity studies, solar energy conversion (artificial photosynthesis), catalysis, functional nanomaterials, and chemotherapy (antiviral and anti-cancer). One general theme of his research is the design and realization of highly complex structures to facilitate challenging and/or societally important tasks. He has trained over 150 doctoral students and postdoctoral associates, given ~520 invited lectures, and is the most cited scientist in Emory College (39,129 citations with an H index of 102: Google Scholar December, 2025).
CLH honors and honorary service (since 1995 only):
Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017; Selected as GIAN Fellow, India, 2017; Elected Member, Academia Europaea (European Academy), 2013; ACS Herty Medal, 2009; 3eme Cycle Lecturer, Switzerland, 2009; Wilsmore Fellow, University of Melbourne, Australia, 2007; Stranks Memorial Lecturer, 2007; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2006; Fellow, Distinguished Fellow, Victoria Institute of Chemical Sciences (VICS), Australia, 2006; Chair and organizer, NSF Inorganic Workshop, 2007-2009; co-organizer of NATO Workshop on Complexity, 2007-2008; ACS Southern Chemist Award, 2002; Nominator for 1992-2021 Nobel Prizes in Chemistry; Professeur associé a l'Universite de Strasbourg, 2002; Chair, International Conference on Homogeneous Catalytic Oxidation, June, 2002; Professeur associé a l'Universite de Lille, 2000; Professeur associé, University of Paris, 1997; USDA National Group Honor Award for Excellence in Research, 1996; Albert E. Levy Science Research Award (Sigma Xi), 1996; Senior Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 1994; Charles H. Stone Award of the ACS, 1992; National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Program, Chair, Chemistry Panel, 1994-1996; Editor for North America, New Journal of Chemistry, 1990-1997; corporate advisory boards, international organizing committees for several conferences and hosted six, 1995-2022.
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Lunch Colloquium -- TravelFest
Monday, April 27, 2026
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TravelFest
Monday, April 27, 2026
The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road -- Room 130
11:30am-1:00pm
One thing in our careers that many of us have experienced was the need and/or desire to travel. Travel is also a favorite of many once they retire. The adventures of travel can be wonderful or sometimes frustrating.
This particular lunch colloquium session is your chance to share your favorite, or least favorite, travel story. Speakers are encouraged to share a story of some special trip, and if you have photos, we would love to see them.
The amount of time allotted for each will be determined by the number of volunteers we receive for the program.
| | Athens Pizza Meet / Greet / Eat! | | |
Athens Pizza Meet / Greet / Eat!
Saturday, April 18, 2026 -- Noon
1341 Clairmont Road
Decatur, GA 30033
Join us to relax and enjoy talking and eating with old and new friends. This is an opportunity to get out of the house, buy yourself a nice lunch, meet other Emeritus members, and have a little fun. Significant others are always welcome!
| | University Senate and Faculty Council News | | |
A. Faculty Council Minutes February 17, 2026
I. Faculty Well Being Committee Update
Reema Dbouk, Committee Chair presented findings from a faculty wellbeing survey,
highlighting themes of financial concerns (salary, bonus) , lack of mentorship of junior faculty and leadership issues.
II. Equity and Civil Rights Compliance
Niger Thomas, Director and EO/AA Compliance Officer provided an overview of Policy 1.3, covering its scope, recent revisions, and faculty responsibilities. The conversation ended with a
discussion on the relationship between Policy 1.3 and the university's open expression policy,
particularly regarding protected speech and potential conflicts.
B. Emory University Senate Meeting Minutes February 24, 2026
I. Financial Update:
Chris Augostini, Pim Thukral (CFO), and Kevin Moody (SVP & CHRO) provided a mid-year
financial update. The University’s financial performance is stronger than projected. Leadership noted continued federal headwinds including research scrutiny, graduate loan changes, and endowment-related risks. Merit pools are currently planned for FY27, barring significant financial disruptions.
II. ICE Guidance and Law Enforcement Preparedness:
Chief Burt Buchtinec and University leadership provided guidance regarding potential ICE
or outside law enforcement activity on campus. Training opportunities are available
through General Counsel. Discussion included transparency concerns, building access
distinctions, and post-enforcement support for affected community members.
III. Research Administration :
Adam Marcus, Senior Vice President for Research Administration, outlined priorities including operational excellence, enterprise-wide strategic planning, interdisciplinary convergence, and innovation/technology transfer. He emphasized reducing friction between ideas and impact and invited continued engagement with faculty and research leaders.
IV. Campus Development Committee:
Chris Blake reviewed the committee’s advisory role regarding campus facilities and
development. Recent work included graduate housing updates, sustainability initiatives,
and dining renovations. Discussion centered on deferred maintenance, White Hall concerns,
faculty space needs, and the broader campus master planning process.
V. Committee for Open Expression:
Sasha Volokh reviewed Policy 8.14 and Emory’s continued 'green light' rating from the
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). The committee recently issued an
opinion regarding the School of Medicine case and is developing FAQs to clarify policy
application. Future work includes reviewing bias reporting systems to ensure alignment
with open expression standards.
VI. Oxford Student Government Association:
Lucianna Marquez Cannon provided updates on Oxford SGA initiatives including housing
improvements, course additions, sustainability efforts, student safety, and academic
advising advocacy. Concerns were raised regarding a proposed ICE detention center near
Oxford and recent hateful graffiti incidents.
Submitted by Jeffrey Lichtman
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Association of Retirement Organizations
in Higher Education
2026 AROHE In-Person Conference
The Joy of Connection: Wellness, Wisdom, and Wonder
October 6-8, 2026
University of Florida
For registration and more information please click here.
| | MedShare Volunteer Opportunity | | |
If you’d like to join this group, we are volunteering the second Thursday afternoon of each month. Upcoming sessions: April 9, May 14, and June 11, 2026 . Registration on the MedShare web site is required.
To register:
Visit the MedShare event registration page at: https://www.cervistech.com/acts/console.php?console_id=0319&console_type=event&ht=1&res_code=EmoryEmeritus
Click the "Sign Up" button for your event and enter your email and first name. If you don't have a MedShare volunteer account, you'll be prompted to create one.
Select the listed event and click “Register."
For registration issues, questions or information about carpooling, please contact Marianne Skeen, marskeen@comcast.net.
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New members are the lifeblood of any organization.
Please make a special effort to welcome them to the EUEC!
Grant W. Carlson
Waley R. Glenn Professor Emeritus of Surgery
Clifton Crais
Professor Emeritus of History
Allen Dollar
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology
Hans Grossniklaus
Professor Emeritus of Ophthalmology, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Jeffrey Olson
Professor Emeritus of Neurosurgery
Michael Peletz
Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
Maureen Powers
Associate Professor Emerita of Cell Biology
Barry Warshaw
Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics
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Ron Gould
Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of Mathematics
Ron gave a talk on March 11, 2026 entitled "Some Saturation Numbers for Dense Graphs" at the 57th Southeastern Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computing at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida.
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Corinne Kratz
Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and African Studies Emerita
Emory Director, African Critical Inquiry Program
Cory recently shared news of her involvement with the African Critical Inquiry Program in Cape Town, Africa.
To learn more about this wonderful program please click here.
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Lucas Carpenter
C. H. Candler Professor of English Emeritus
Lucas recently published a book of twelve essays and works of creative nonfiction entitled, "My Mother in History: Selected Prose."
For more information click on the Barnes and Noble site here.
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Harvey Klehr
Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Politics and History Emeritus
Published articles and reviews:
“How the Communist Party Created Jewish Anti-Zionism” Mosaic, February 2, 2026.
“Soviet Atomic Espionage in World War II,” in The Oxford Handbook of National Security Intelligence, Loch Johnson ed., Oxford University Press, NY, 2025, pp. 410-422, co-author.
“Reappraising American Communism and the Cold War," Journal of Cold War Studies, Spring 2025, pp. 255–279.
Taught a three-week Zoom course for YIVO on Jews, Communism and Espionage, January 2025.
Received a National Endowment for the Humanities Director's grant ($30,000) to create an AI tool for studying Soviet Espionage.
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George H. Jones
Goodrich C. White Professor of Biology Emeritus
I published an invited chapter, Evolution of Bacterial tRNA Nucleotidyltransferases, in Volume 38 of Nucleic Acids and Molecular Biology, published by Springer. Here is the complete reference:
Jones, G. H. (2025) Evolution of Bacterial tRNA Nucleotidyltransferases. In Molecular Evolution of RNA Regulatory Enzymes and Their Systems, Nucleic Acids and Molecular Biology, A. Kanai and A. W. Nicholson, Eds. Springer. 38, 79-96.
Beginning June 1, 2026, I will spend three months in the laboratory of Dr. Ben Luisi, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, performing experiments related to the evolution of bacterial Poly(A) Polymerase I.
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Denise Raynor
Professor Emerita of Gynecology and Obstetrics
Denise has published a novel entitled, "Birthing Pains: A Story of Transformation."
Published by RIZE, the book is the story of Dr Laura Hampton who joins an Ob/Gyn practice in a rural county in the 1980’s and discovers that improving the outcomes of mothers and babies is not as simple as pointing out that there are newer and better ways to provide prenatal care. Like the HBO series The Pit, the narrative takes the reader behind the scenes on Labor & Delivery, in the operating room, and into the lives of the medical staff and the women they serve with the same attention to the medical details. Always an outsider, the trouble Laura encounters in settling her family into the small, close-knit community makes her experience even more fraught as it threatens to upend her marriage. Laura's self-confidence is shaken as she stumbles from one situation to another. As she struggles to regain her footing, she is forced to reexamine her attitudes about the people she serves, the ways she interacts with them, and how she can carry those lessons into her future career. Available in paperback and e-book, the book is on sale at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org for those who want to support small books.
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Ron Schuchard
Goodrich C. White Professor of English
Ron Schuchard, general editor of the eight-volume print and fully searchable digital editions of The Complete Prose of T. S. Eliot: The Critical Edition, announces that volume nine, a unique collection of Eliot’s unpublished “secondary prose,” is now underway, with the support of the Eliot Foundation, the Johns Hopkins University Press, and Project MUSE. Several of the co-edited volumes have won the highest annual editorial awards of the Modernist Studies Association and the Modern Language Association.
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Anthony Y. Stringer
Professor Emeritus of Rehabilitation Medicine
Anthony served on the National Football League's Neuropsychology Scientific Panel, working on the development of alternative norms that eliminate potential racial bias in neuropsychological assessments of retired football players undergoing evaluation for dementia (all etiologies).
Since 2025, he has served as Director of Mentorship Training to the NIH funded NEXUS Project which is developing the first Ph.D. Program in Neuropsychology in sub-Saharan Africa based at the University of Rwanda.
He has also published, presented and served on professional and community committees, boards and service projects.
For details please click here.
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Barbara DeConcini
Professor of Religion
Dr. Barbara Anne DeConcini died on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, succumbing to pneumonia at the age of 82.
To view an obituary please click here.
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Annick Davies
Senior Lecturer Emerita of French and Italian
Annick Davies, Faculty Emeritus at Emory University, passed away in Cherbourg, France, on March 3, 2026, and has been laid to rest in her native country.
Annick was born on February 10, 1942, during the German occupation in World War II, at the family's apartment located on the floor above the Hardinvast France Elementary School, where her mother was the sole teacher.
In 1964, Annick came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar and Teaching Assistant at Bucknell University. She graduated in 1965 with a licences d'Anglais from the University de Caen, and in 1966 began her career at Emory University as a lecturer in French. In 1988, she became a Senior Lecturer and remained in the French and Italian Department throughout her career, retiring in 2008.
Annick Davies loved to teach and always demanded the best from herself and expected the same in return from her students. Annick enjoyed family and friends get togethers to share good food, lively conversation and much laughter. She, and her laughter, will be greatly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.
Annick is survived by her husband, Bob; daughter, Anne-Florence, and her husband, Vijay; grandson, Kiran; brother, Gerard Bellan; and niece and God-daughter, Gaelle Bellan.
Throughout her life, Annick was very active politically, particularly women's rights. Donations to any organization that promotes and defends Democracy and women's rights in Annick Davies' name would be an honor to her memory and legacy and gratefully appreciated by her family.
| | Some Upcoming Events at Emory in April 2026 | |
Emory Cinematheque
The Emory Cinematheque, a series of professional film screenings offered by the Department of Film and Media and Emory College of Arts and Sciences, is pleased to present “Matthew H. Bernstein: Farewell Favorites” on the occasion of Bernstein’s 2026 retirement from Emory after working in the Film and Media Department for 37 years.
White Hall 208 | 301 Dowman Dr
Free event and open to the public
Wednesday, April 1, 2026, 7:30pm EST
The Gold Rush
Directed by Charles Chaplin, 1925 | 96 min.
Wednesday, April 8, 2026, 7:30pm EST
Sense and Sensibility
Directed by Ang Lee, 1995 | 136 min.
Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 7:30pm EST
The Lady Eve
Directed by Preston Sturges, 1941 | 94 min.
Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 7:30pm EST
The Rules of the Game
Directed by Jean Renoir, 1939 | 110 min.
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Book Launch and Celebration for "Kin" by Tayari Jones
Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church
Monday, April 6, 2026, 5:30 – 7pm EDT
Join the Fox Center as we celebrate the release of Faculty Fellow Tayari Jones' Kin (Penguin Random House)! Tayari Jones (Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing) will be joined by Jericho Brown (Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing) for a conversation on this exuberant new work about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South. This event is free and open to all.
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Oxford College Farm Plant Sale
Oxford Organic Farm
Friday, April 10, 2026, 12 – 6pm EDT
Saturday, April 11, 2026, 9am-3pm EDT
Oxford College Organic Farm is having its Spring 2026 Plant Sale! You will be able to find spring and summer veggie starts, southeastern native plants, popular culinary herbs, and eye-catching flowers for your garden!
You can find the store on our linktree!
See you there!
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Details and other information, as well as additional campus events, can be found on the Emory Events Calendar.
If you'd like to share an event/program of interest before the next newsletter
please contact Dianne Becht Dianne.becht@emory.edu
| | Exploring the Campus with Dianne | |
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The comfy chairs from our walk/exploration last month can be found in the Robert W. Woodruff Library at 540 Asbury Circle on the main campus. This particular grouping of chairs is located on the second floor (entry level) of the library toward the back of the building beyond the library service desk.
There are number of lounge, study, reading areas, but this spot seemed to have the most comfortable chairs. I haven't had a chance to fully explore the entire library, so if you know of other comfy and/or interesting areas, please let me know and I'll go check them out!
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Spring is here and despite the pollen EVERYWHERE, let's go outside for our next exploration.
This building is fairly new to campus and has a wall of windows that reveal a beautiful interior view as seen one early evening during a recent bike ride.
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Where will you find this on the Emory campus?
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Emory University Emeritus College
The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road NE Room 206
Atlanta, GA 30329
http://www.emory.edu/emeritus
Emory is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by state or federal law. Inquiries should be directed to the Department of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance, 201 Dowman Drive, Administration Bldg, Atlanta, GA 30322.
Telephone: 404-727-9867 (V) | 404-712-2049 (TDD).
Should you need this document in an alternate format, or require a reasonable accommodation, please contact the Department of Accessibility Services at 404-727-9877 (V) | 404-712-2049 (TDD).
Please note that one week's advance notice is preferred.
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