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CONTACT:
 | NSF Division Director Speaks on Los Angeles, CA -- On Friday, November 3, California State University, Los Angeles will present its annual Lloyd N. Ferguson Distinguished Lecture entitled "NSF, K-12 Education and CSLA-DNA," by Costello Brown, acting division director for the division of Educational System Reform (ESR) at the National Science Foundation. This lecture is free to the public and will begin 1 p.m. in the Los Angeles Room, University-Student Union, on the Cal State L.A. campus. Brown was appointed to his NSF post on August 15, 1999. He is currently on leave from Cal State L.A. where he was professor of chemistry and associate dean of Graduate Studies and Research. He served as the executive secretary to the Teacher Education Subcommittee at Cal State L.A. for several years and has worked throughout his career as a program director, mentor and research advisor to increase the number of underrepresented minority students in the sciences. In 1998-99, Brown served as the program director for the Minority Graduate Education (MGE) program in the Human Resources Division (HRD) at NSF and also served for a short time as acting division director for HRD. This is Brown's second tour of duty at NSF. In 1991-92 he served as program director for both the Summer Science Camps program (a middle school program) and the Comprehensive Partnerships for Mathematics and Science Achievement (CPMSA) program, a comprehensive K- 12 systemic reform program. Brown received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Hampton University, and obtained M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in organic chemistry (natural products) from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, where he was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois and joined the faculty at California State University, (CSU) Los Angeles as an assistant professor in 1969. Brown received an NIH Career Development award for his research in the area of negative ion organic mass spectrometry. He has been a visiting faculty research associate at the University of Georgia and at Caltech. Established in 1995 in honor of Lloyd N. Ferguson, who is a Cal State L.A. emeritus professor of chemistry, The Lloyd N. Ferguson Distinguished Lecture brings experts in the field of science to the Cal State L.A. campus. Dr. Ferguson, who retired from an illustrious 21-year career at Cal State L.A. in 1986, has authored more than 50 journal articles and seven textbooks. His research has spanned the areas of cancer chemotherapy, the relationship between structure and biological activity, and the functioning of our sense of taste. He was chairman of the American Chemical Society's Division of Chemical Education, served as director of Cal State L.A.'s Minority Biomedical Research Support program from its inception in 1973 through 1984, and was program director for many National Science Foundation teaching and research participation programs. Before coming to Cal State L.A., he taught in the Chemistry Department at Howard University for 20 years. Ferguson's numerous distinctions include honorary doctorates, the CSU Outstanding Professor Award, the Chemical Manufacturers Association Award in Chemical Education, and the American Chemical Society Award in Chemical Education. He has served as a role model for many hundreds of minority students who have entered careers in science and technology. This lecture is sponsored by the School of Natural and Social Sciences and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Cal State L.A. Unless otherwise directed, guests should park in areas with permit dispensers (Parking Structure II, Lot C and Lot G). For more information on the Lloyd N. Ferguson Distinguished Lecture, call (323) 343-2300.
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