Nobel Laureate in Chemistry to speak at Ott Lecture

The 2003 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry is the featured speaker for the Grand Valley State University Arnold C. Ott Lectureship in Chemistry.

Roderick MacKinnon is a John D. Rockefeller Jr. Professor at The Rockefeller University in New York and an investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He will give a public lecture on Tuesday, March 13 and a seminar for students on Wednesday, March 14. 

MacKinnon runs the Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at Rockefeller and is known for his research with molecular mechanisms of a class of integral membrane proteins known as ion channels. Ion channels control the pace of the heart, regulate hormone secretion and generate the electrical impulses underlying information transfer in the nervous system.

March 13
“Electricity and Biology”
5 p.m. reception
6 p.m. lecture
Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center
Pew Grand Rapids Campus

March 14
“Potassium Channels”
1 p.m. chemistry seminar
123 Manitou Hall
Allendale Campus

The Arnold C. Ott Lectureship in Chemistry was created and endowed by a gift from Arnold C. Ott and Marion Ott. Arnold Ott received his doctorate in 1943 from Michigan State University in chemistry, physics and bacteriology and is a leading chemist and entrepreneur in West Michigan. He is one of the co-founders of Grand Valley State University and served on the GVSU Board of Trustees for 28 years.

For more information, contact the GVSU Chemistry Department at (616) 331-3317.