From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Messenger Lectures are a series of talks given by scholars and public figures at
Cornell University . They were funded in 1924 by a gift from
Hiram Messenger of "a fund to provide a course of lectures on the Evolution of Civilization for the special purpose of raising the moral standard of our political, business, and social life", to be "delivered by the ablest non-resident lecturer or lecturers obtainable".
[1] The lecture series has been described as one of Cornell's most important of extracurricular activities.
[2]
Initially a series of twelve lectures per year, there are now either three or six lectures by one speaker each semester.
[1]
Archeologist
James Henry Breasted delivered the first series of Messenger Lectures in 1925.
[3] [
page needed ]
Hiram Messenger
Dr. Hiram John Messenger Jr (July 6, 1855 - Dec. 15, 1913; B. Litt., Phd,
[4] ) was from Hartford, Connecticut
[5] and graduated from Cornell in 1880.
[6] He was a teacher of mathematics
[7] Associate Professor of Mathematics at the
University of the City of New York
[8] and an
actuary of the
Traveler's Insurance Company . The gift he left to Cornell was part of $4,000 mentioned in his will
[9] and a portion of his estate goes to Cornell each year.
[5] He was himself the youngest son of Hiram J. Messenger, a mercantile businessman and owner of banks.
[10]
The lectures
See the
list of Messenger Lectures at Cornell University for a complete list
There have been over 80 talks given since 1924, the most famous of which is probably
Richard Feynman's 7 lecture series in 1964,
The Character of Physical Law , the videos of which were bought and made available to the public by
Bill Gates in 2009.
A partial listing of some of the lecturers over the years is provided in Cornell's Messenger Lectures brochure as:
Michael Moss (2016)
Cecilia Vicuña (2015)
Leonard Susskind (2014)
Nima Arkani-Hamed (2010)
Steven Weinberg (2007)
Sir Martin Rees (2005)
Maynard Solomon (1992)
Susan Moller Okin (1989)
Peter Nye (1989)
Edward W. Said (1986)
Quentin Skinner (1983)
Noam Chomsky (1976)
Edward O. Wilson (1976)
Richard Feynman (1964)
1960-1961
Fred Hoyle , Astronomy, University of Cambridge
1959-1960
Linus Pauling , Chemistry, California Institute of Technology
1959-1960
Arthur F. Burns , Economics, Columbia University
1958-1959
Vincent Wigglesworth , Zoology, University of Cambridge
1957-1958
Guido Pontecorvo , Genetics, University of Glasgow
1957-1958
Paul Tillich , Religion, Harvard University
1956-1957
W. K. C. Guthrie , Classics, University of Cambridge
1956-1957
Alfred L. Kroeber , Anthropology, University of California
1955-1956 Edward C. Kirkland, History, Bowdoin College
1955-1956 Arthur J. Altmeyer, Louis I. Dublin, Edward J. Stieglitz, Gerontology
1954-1955
Philip Kuenen , Submarine Geology, Groningen, the Netherlands
1954-1955
Alpheus T. Mason , Government, Princeton University
1953-1954
Luther Gulick , Public Administration, New York
1953-1954
C. B. van Niel , Bacteriology, Stanford University
1952-1953
Joseph Wood Krutch , Drama, Columbia University
1952-1953
Theodore von Karman , Engineering, California Institute of Technology
1951-1952
Otto Struve , Astronomy, Yerkes Observatory
1951-1952
Robert Redfield , Anthropology, University of Chicago
1950-1951
William F. Albright , Archaeology, Johns Hopkins University
1950-1951
Thomas A. Bailey , Russian-American Relations, Stanford University
1950-1951
Jens Clausen , Botany, Stanford University
1949-1950
Otto E. Neugebauer , History of Mathematics, Brown University
1949-1950
Vincent du Vigneaud , Biochemistry, Cornell Medical College
1948-1949
Otto Kinkeldey , Musicology, Harvard University
1948-1949
Harvey Fletcher , Acoustics, Bell Telephone Laboratories
1947-1948
Howard Mumford Jones , American Literature, Harvard University
1947-1948
Catherine Bauer , Housing, University of Cambridge
1947-1948
Marjorie Hope Nicolson , English Literature, Columbia University
1946-1947
Sumner Slichter , Economics, Harvard University
1945-1946
Hu Shih , History of Chinese Philosophy, Peking
1945-1946
J. Robert Oppenheimer , Atomic Physics, California Inst. Of Technology
1945-1946
C. C. Little ,
L. H. Snyder ,
H. J. Muller , Gene
1944-1945
Douglas Bush , English Literature, Harvard University
1944-1945 T. R. McConnell, W. H. Cowley, W. DeVane, Higher Education
1944-1945 Charles E. Kellogg, Agronomy, U.S. Department of Agriculture
1944-1945
Lydia Roberts , Nutrition, University of Chicago
1943-1944
Griffith Taylor , Geography, Toronto
1942-1943
Carl L. Becker , Cornell History, Cornell University
1942-1943 H. Peyre, French Literature, Yale University
1941-1942
H. M. Evans , Endocrinology, University of California
1941-1942
T. M. River and others, Virus Diseases, Rockefeller Institute
1940-1941 F. A. Pottle, Modern Poetry, Yale University
1940-1941
H. E. Sigerist , History of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University
1939-1940
T. D. Kendrick , Archaeology, British Museum
1938-1939 G. P. Adams, Philosophy, University of California
1938-1939 G. H. McIlwain, History of Political Theory, Harvard University
1937-1938
E. J. Dent , Musicology, University of Cambridge
1936-1937
Isaiah Bowman , Geography, Johns Hopkins University
1936-1937 Robert Hegner, Parasitology, Johns Hopkins University
1935-1936 W. M. Calder, History of Christianity, University of Edinburgh
1934-1935
W. C. Mitchell , Economics, Columbia University
1933-1934 Sir
Arthur Eddington , Astronomy, University of Cambridge
1932-1933
B. Malinowski , Anthropology, London
1931-1932
F. J. Mather , Fine Arts, Princeton University
1930-1931
T. H. Morgan , Genetics, California Institute of Technology
1929-1930
Roscoe Pound , Law, Harvard University
1928-1929
E. L. Thorndike , Psychology, Columbia University
1927-1928
T. F. Tout , English History, Manchester
1926-1927
H. J. C. Grierson , English Literature, University of Edinburgh
1925-1926
R. A. Millikan , Physics, California Institute of Technology
1924-1925
J. H. Breasted , Ancient History, Chicago
See also
References
^
a
b
"Messenger/University Lectures" .
Cornell University . Retrieved 2019-02-02 .
^ Spangenburg, Ray; Moser, Diane (2004).
Carl Sagan: A Biography .
Greenwood Publishing Group . p. 45.
ISBN
0-313-32265-1 .
^
"Bachelor of Science" .
Time Magazine . 1934-04-16. Archived from
the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-25 .
^
"The Mathematics Genealogy Project - Hiram Messenger, Jr" . Mathematics Genealogy Project . Department of Mathematics,
North Dakota State University . Retrieved 2009-07-29 . Ph.D. Cornell University 1886. Dissertation: Modern Methods in Geometric Conics. Advisor: James Edward Oliver
^
a
b Sigerist, Henry Ernest (1970).
Civilization and disease . Ayer Publishing. pp. xii.
ISBN
0-8434-0093-5 .
^ Lang, Susan S. (2006-04-07).
"Britain's Astronomer Royal will deliver Messenger lectures" . Cornell Chronicle .
Cornell University . Retrieved 2009-07-25 . The Messenger Lectures were established in 1924 by a gift from Hiram Messenger, who graduated from Cornell in 1880, with the intent of raising the moral standards of political, business and social life
^ Sullivan, Robert (2003-03-06).
"Political economist Fukuyama warns of 'weak states' in Messenger Lecture" . Cornell Chronicle .
Cornell University . Retrieved 2009-07-25 .
^ Edward, Poole Murray (1916).
Distinguished Cornellians: A story historical of Cornell University with biographies of distinguished Cornellians . Ithaca, New York: THE CAYUGA PRESS.
^
"LEFT FUND TO CORNELL.; Hiram L. Messenger Provided $4,000 Memorial in His Will" .
The New York Times . 1913-12-25. p. 8. Retrieved 2009-07-25 . In the will of Hiram J. Messenger, actuary of the Travelers' Insurance Company, filed to-day, Cornell University is remembered,
^
"Biographic Section A from Smiths history: CHAPTER XXXIV, HIRAM J. MESSENGER" . Retrieved 2009-07-25 .
External links