Lunchtime Lectures

Unless otherwise noted, lunchtime lectures are free to OLLI Scholars. Registration is required. Box lunches are $9.50 at the door. [Classic Events boxed lunch selections] To register, please call 244-9141.

Unless otherwise indicated, all lunchtime lectures are from 12N - 1:30PM and are held at OLLI.

• Wednesday, May 16, 2012; 2:00-3:30pm
  The U.S. Patent System and Why Should You Care?
• Wednesday, May 23, 2012
  Bats: Myth and Reality

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The U.S. Patent System and Why Should You Care?

Wednesday, May 16, 2012; 2:00-3:30pm

Professor Kesan will discuss the broad contours of our U.S. patent system and its importance and relevance to technology innovation and economic development. He will specifically highlight recent Congressional efforts at patent reform, including the passage of the America Invents Act, and some recent disputes and controversies related to patents in information technology and biotechnology (such as genetic testing). The lecture will also address some international and transnational issues in the patent context.

Instructor: Jay P. Kesan is Professor of Law, H. Ross and Helen Workman Research Scholar, and Director of the Program in Intellectual Property and Technology Law at the University of Illinois. He also holds appointments in the College of Business, the Institute of Genomic Biology, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Information Trust Institute, the Coordinated Science Laboratory, and the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics. He is a regular commentator on the radio program Legal Issues in the News on WILL AM/FM.

Professor Kesan's academic interests are focused in the areas of intellectual property and law and technology. He has written extensively in the areas of law and regulation of cyberspace, intellectual property, and law and economics. He participated twice in panels at the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Hearings on the Implications of Competition and Patent Law and Policy. He has testified about biofuel regulation issues before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. He has also worked with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation on their intellectual property protection and technology commercialization activities in the former Soviet Union countries.

He received his J.D. summa cum laude from Georgetown University, where he received several awards including Order of the Coif, and served as Associate Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. After graduation, he clerked for Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Prior to attending law school, Kesan - who also holds a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Texas at Austin - worked as a research scientist at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in New York.

Cost: $9.50 if you wish to purchase a box lunch (pay at the office before the lecture or at the door) [Classic Events boxed lunch selections]

Registration: Registration is required. Please call 244-9141 or email olli@illinois.edu

Bats: Myth and Reality

Wednesday, May 23, 2012; Noon-1:30pm

Second only to rodents in the number of species of mammals, bats (Order Chiroptera) represent unparalleled variety among the mammals. Bats represent about 22% of all species of mammals. No order of mammals is more diverse than the chiropterans in the number of feeding niches they fill. Most bats are insectivorous; numerous others are specialized to feed on fruit, nectar, or pollen. Other bats are carnivorous feeding on small terrestrial animals, and a few species feed on small fish. And then we have the vampire bats, the only sanguinivorous ("blood-eating") mammals. They have an evil reputation linked to Bram Stoker (of Dracula fame) who infamously coupled Transylvania (Romania), vampires, and bats.

Instructor: Joseph Merritt, mammalogist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, will discuss the life history and ecology of bats and set the record straight on the many misconceptions and myths regarding these fascinating and mammals.

Cost: $9.50 if you wish to purchase a box lunch (pay at the office before the lecture or at the door) [Classic Events boxed lunch selections]

Registration: Registration is required. Please call 244-9141 or email olli@illinois.edu

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