In celebration of Holden Thorp’s installation as chancellor on University Day, the chemistry department is hosting a symposium Oct. 13 in honor of its former chair. Thorp’s doctoral mentor at the California Institute of Technology, Harry B. Gray, will give a talk at noon, “The 21st Century Chemistry Grand Challenge: Fuel from Sunlight and Water.” It will be held in Room 103 of the Stone Center.

At 4 p.m. in 125 Chapman Hall, Thorp’s postdoctoral mentor at Yale, Gary Brudvig, will speak on “Water Oxidation Chemistry of Photosystem II and Artificial Systems.”

For information, e-mail nstrong@email.unc.edu.

Recommendations are due by Oct. 14 for book titles for consideration as the 2009 Summer Reading Program book.

Criteria for book selection are posted online, as well as a link to an online submission form.www.unc.edu/srp

Grab a great meal to go at Top of Lenoir and Rams Head Dining halls this fall, without a side of guilt.

Carolina Dining Services offers reusable containers at both locations for $3.50. Pay once and exchange it for a clean one every time you get takeout. snipurl.com/3tcl8

Hollywood producer and writer Beth Sullivan visits campus Oct. 13 and Oct. 14 as a guest of the Writing for the Screen and Stage program.

She is best known for her work on “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.” She screens and discusses its pilot Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of Hanes Art Center.

Sullivan also will give two public talks on Oct. 14. She will discuss “Writing and Producing for TV” during a brown-bag lunch from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Toy Lounge in Dey Hall. At 6 p.m. she will talk about “Women in TV” in 116 Murphey Hall.

The campus community is invited to an Oct. 10 symposium hosted by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, “Physics and Astronomy at UNC-CH: Where We Came From, Where We Are Going.”

The meeting will feature presentations from some of the department’s emeritus professors about the department, its people and its research in the mid-20th century, paired with presentations from young assistant professors about new scientific developments that might be expected in the 21st century.

The symposium will be held from 1 to 4:35 p.m. in Chapman Hall. For information, see www.physics.unc.edu/
~mcneil/pastfuturesymposium.htm.

The Finance Division will sponsor a continuing professional education workshop, "Leadership Management and Institutional Challenges," on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30 at The Carolina Club. The event is open to all and meets the N.C. State Board requirements for North Carolina CPAs to obtain up to 12 CPE credits. www.unc.edu/finance/fd/ct/traindocs/
courseannouncement.pdf

Alumnus, poet, novelist and nonfiction writer Robert Morgan, winner of this year’s Thomas Wolfe Prize, delivers the Thomas Wolfe Lecture Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Carroll Hall’s auditorium. english.unc.edu/wolfe

Morgan also speaks about his “Brave Enemies: A Novel of the American Revolution,” on Oct. 3 at 4 p.m. in the Hill Alumni Center as part of the James A. Hutchins lectures. Both are free and open to the public. snipurl.com/3td4x

The Institute for the Arts and Humanities’ Academic Leadership Program (ALP) is accepting nominations for the 2009-10 academic year. Because the ALP requires a significant time commitment, a flexible-use stipend of $7,000 is provided to each participant.

To read more about ALP, to apply to become a fellow or to nominate a fellow faculty member, refer to snipurl.com/3th7m. Applications are due by Nov. 1.

The Harvey Prize is awarded annually by The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology – in a variety of disciplines within the categories of science and technology and human health. It has also been awarded for contributions to peace in the Middle East.

Two awards of $75,000 each are made annually. Applications are due Nov. 1. For application information, see snipurl.com/3the3.

“To Be Straight With You” – a visceral, highly political piece featuring live performance, documentary footage and animation – opens the experimental series of this year’s Carolina Performing Arts season.

Performances by London’s DV8 Physical Theatre will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 and 8 p.m. Oct. 10 in Memorial Hall.www.carolinaperformingarts.org

The Fifth Annual Aging Exchange takes place Oct. 16 at the Friday Center from 1 to 6:30 p.m.

The free event is dedicated to promoting aging at UNC and includes among many events the presentation of honors to campus leaders and students and discussion of campus aging initiatives and research.

Refer to www.aging.unc.edu/events/agingexchange/index.html for complete information.

Gary Dickson, an honorary fellow in history at the University of Edinburgh, presents “The Children’s Crusade and Medieval History” Oct. 3 at 3:30 p.m. in Toy Lounge of Dey Hall. mems.unc.edu

The Institute of African-American Research hosts a “Race-ing Research, Research Race” seminar Oct. 8 at noon in 271 Hamilton Hall. Rajesh Ghoshal will speak on the topic, “What does commemorating past racial violence do?” www.unc.edu/iaar

The Friday Center presents a series of four lectures beginning Oct. 16, “We the People: Democracy in America.” Fees are $10 per session or $30 for the series. snipurl.com/3tdgl

The University Library continually adds new, easily accessible electronic resources to support research and learning. The following recently added titles show the scope of topics library materials can support. To access them, search the catalog (search.lib.unc.edu) or ask a librarian for assistance (library.unc.edu/ask.html). Off-campus access generally requires an Onyen or PID. New titles are:

The American Civil War Research Database;

China Data Online;

Encyclopaedia of Islam;

Global Financial Data; and

Testaments to the Holocaust.

The library is now accepting faculty nominations for new databases and materials in other formats. See library.unc.edu. 

In other library news, faculty members are invited to submit proposals by Oct. 13 for one-time library materials purchases that support research and teaching at the University.

The library especially seeks requests for items that cost $500 or more. Materials nominated may be in any format; however, proposals may not be for subscription titles.

The library maintains special funds, including a research fund and a library discretionary fund, designed to support research and teaching through special purchases. These funds are especially suitable for materials that may be unusually expensive or that fall outside the usual acquisition scope for a given discipline.

Submissions will be reviewed either by the Collections Committee of the Administrative Board of the Library or by the Library's Collection Development Council. These groups will also set priorities for filling unfunded requests, should additional funds become available at a later time.

For an application form, visit library.unc.edu/spotlight/2008/purchase_requests.html. For more information, contact John Rutledge (jbr@email.unc.eduor 962-1095).