MEDIA CONTACT: Patsy Jones
561-297-1307, patsyj@fau.edu
BOCA RATON, FL (August 25, 2006)—Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science presents Dr. Timothy Gay, professor of physics at the University of Nebraska, who will discuss his nationally recognized program on “Football Physics” as the first offering in a series of Frontiers in Science public lectures. The presentation will take place Thursday, September 7 at 3:30 p.m. in room 126 of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science Building.
Gay is noted for teaching the largest physics class in the world to 78,000 fans who attended University of Nebraska Cornhuskers home football games in Memorial Stadium. During a pause in the football action, his lessons were shown on the giant television screen at either end of the field with laboratory demonstrations that featured Gay being tackled by a 370 pound lineman, pummeled with a sledgehammer as he lay on a bed of nails and learning the finer points of passing from Heisman trophy winner Eric Crouch. Gay will use similar demonstrations in his Frontiers presentation at FAU.
Gay’s work has been featured on ABC World News Tonight, as a front page story in the Wall Street Journal, and in articles in People magazine, the New York Times, ESPN Magazine, the Boston Globe and the Washington Post. In addition, in 2001, Gay was hired by NFL Films to write and appear in a series of 5 minute television segments for their show NFL Blast!
The Frontiers in Science Public Lecture Series is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and supported by FAU’s Lifelong Learning Society Endowed Professorship.
For more information, contact Patsy Jones at 561-297-1307 or patsyj@fau.edu.
- FAU –
Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 26,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven campuses strategically located along 150 miles of Florida's southeastern coastline. Building on its rich tradition as a teaching university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts nine colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, and the Colleges of Business, Education, Engineering & Computer Science, and Architecture, Urban & Public Affairs.
