'Search For Life In Interstellar Space' To Be Topic for April 30 Lecture

by Judy Long

Dr. Bradley Stone, interim chair of chemistry at San Jose State University, will deliver the final lecture for the Spring 2004 Vice Provost of Research Colloquium Series April 30 on "Astrochemistry: the Search for Organic Molecules in Interstellar Space."
Stone, who is co-director of the NASA Faculty Fellowship Program at Ames Research Center and Dryden Flight Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., will speak at 2 p.m. Friday in room 220 of the Marrs McLean Science building on the Baylor University campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Stone received his bachelor's degree in chemistry with honors from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and his doctorate in chemical physics from Indiana University. He later served as a post-doctoral research associate for Edward K.C. Lee at the University of California, Irvine, and has taught chemistry at San Jose State University since 1985.
He joined the university's astrochemistry group in 1995, which was recognized by NASA in 2002 for exceptional performance in the laboratory simulation of materials in deep interstellar space. The group's research has revolutionized the understanding of chemistry in space.
Stone was responsible for building a laser laboratory to study the fluorescence of a family of organic molecules thought to be important carbon-containing compounds in the interstellar medium.
The Vice Provost for Research Colloquium Series hosts researchers from an array of fields to visit the Baylor University campus. For more information, call (254) 710-3763 or go to office of the vice provost for research.