Lyceum Society April 2021 Meeting

Welcome and Introductions: 11:30 am to 11:45 am

Lyceum News: 11:45 am to 12:00 pm

Preliminary Presentation: 12:00 pm to 12:15 pm

Speaker: Nicholas Dirks, New York Academy of Sciences President and CEO

Main Presentation: 12:30 to 2:00 pm

Speaker: Bill Rosser

Topic: Scientific Advances and Scientific Threats: Can We Control Our Destiny?

Outline:

We benefit enormously from science that continues to accelerate.  We are a very highly advanced civilization with essentially unlimited access to speed, power, communication and data.  But are we capable, or smart, or cooperative enough to control it when it becomes a threat?  Discussion examples will include climate, surveillance, jobs, etc.

Bio:

Bill retired nine years ago from Gartner, Inc., Stamford, CT, the worldwide top-ranked advisory firm providing guidance to corporations regarding their use of information technology. As a Gartner VP and Distinguished Analyst, he spent 29 years writing, speaking and advising clients about effective use of IT. He studied Basic Engineering at Princeton University, and after work in telecommunications in San Francisco, returned to Harvard Business School and graduated with Distinction in 1962. In 1969 he formed his own start-up in data processing based on the new electronic cash registers, and after a merger, worked in strategic planning for Perkin-Elmer and Exxon Enterprises prior to Gartner.

Today Bill is active as an architectural walking tour guide (Grand Central Terminal and the NoHo Historic District), and is a founding member of "Reform Elections Now" (with fellow HBS grads) promoting vital improvements in the election processes such as Ranked Choice Voting.  See 'reformelectionsnow.org'.  He has spoken to the Lyceum Society on various topics and has also chaired previous sessions of the Lyceum Society on discussions of timely interest.