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Two prominent former secretaries of the interior, Stewart Udall and James Watt, will meet in a public event for the first time April 20 to discuss land management issues with University of Colorado at Boulder Professor Patricia Limerick. The public conversation will be held at 7 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller ballroom on the CU-Boulder campus. The event is free and open to the public.

The basic ideas of quantum mechanics will be discussed during a Saturday Physics Series talk April 15 at the University of Colorado at Boulder. John Cumalat, professor and chair of physics at CU-Boulder, will present his talk on "Physics at the Energy Frontier" at 2 p.m. in Duane Physics room G1B30. The presentation is free and open to the public and is intended for high school students, teachers and adults.

University of Colorado at Boulder Professor Leslie Leinwand has been named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor, a prestigious undergraduate education honor that carries a four-year, $1 million grant.

Study Abroad Program offerings and student participation rates have both doubled since 1996 at the University of Colorado at Boulder and international education officials are hoping to build on that momentum this year during the nationally designated "Year of Study Abroad," which kicks off at CU-Boulder April 13.

Undergraduate students in civil and environmental engineering who want to use their skills and knowledge to help people in the developing world can now follow an approved curriculum at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The new Bachelor of Science degree track in Engineering for Developing Communities integrates sustainability, appropriate technology, renewable energy, international education and development, business, health and humanities with the traditional curriculum in civil and environmental engineering.

A team of three University of Colorado at Boulder undergraduate students has been named among the top winners in the prestigious Mathematical Contest in Modeling for the third year in a row. CU-Boulder students Brian Camley, Pascal Getreuer and Brad Klingenberg gave up their Super Bowl weekend in February to solve a contest problem about the most efficient way to position and move sprinklers for irrigation. Last week, they were named one of 12 "Outstanding Winners" from a field of 748 teams that entered.

Sixteen University of Colorado at Boulder graduate specialty programs were rated in the top 50 nationally in U.S. News & World Report's newly released America's Best Graduate Schools 2007. Five CU-Boulder graduate specialty programs were rated in the top 10 nationally in results released March 31. An additional six programs were rated in the top 20 and five others in the top 50 in the complete rankings released later that day, for a total of 16 in the top 50.

The scientific concepts of light, polarization and optics will be explained through a number of experiments, including creating a giant soap bubble, during the April 15 CU Wizards show "Light, Polarization and Liquid Crystals." University of Colorado at Boulder physics Professor Noel Clark and chemistry Professor David Walba will present the show at 9:30 a.m. in Duane Physics room G1B30. The show, aimed primarily at students in grades five through nine, is free and open to the public.

Frank Press, White House science adviser to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980 and former president of the National Academy of Sciences, will speak at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Tuesday, April 11.

Five University of Colorado at Boulder graduate specialty programs were rated in the top 10 nationally in a new but limited U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings report scheduled for release March 31.