Nobel Conference
The Nobel Conference is the first ongoing academic conference in the United States to have the official authorization of the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. It is held annually at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota and links a general audience with the world's foremost scholars and researchers in conversations centered on contemporary issues related to the natural and social sciences.
Gustavus was founded by Swedish immigrants in 1862 and throughout its history, it has continued to honor its Swedish heritage and its commitment to excellence in education. As the College prepared to build a new science hall in the early 1960s, College officials asked the Nobel Foundation for permission to name the building the Alfred Nobel Hall of Science as a memorial to the great Swedish inventor and philanthropist. Permission was granted, and the facility's dedication ceremony in 1963 included 26 Nobel laureates and officials from the Nobel Foundation.
Following the 1963 Nobel Prize ceremonies in Stockholm, College representatives met with Nobel Foundation officials, asking them to endorse an annual science conference at the College and to allow use of the Nobel name to establish credibility and high standards. At the urging of several prominent Nobel laureates, the foundation granted the request and the first conference was held at the College in January 1965.
For four decades, world-class research scientists and scholars have come together to discuss leading topics in science with audiences of thousands.
Next Conference
The 2008 conference topic is Who Were the First Humans? It deals with questions such as "Where did they come from?" Or "How did they live? Genetic evidence among other things helps scientists find these things out. This Nobel Conference, the 44th annual, will take place on October 7 and 8 of 2008.
Past Conferences
2000s
- 2008 - Who Were the First Humans?
- 2007 - Heating Up: The Energy Debate
- 2006 - Medicine: Prescription for Tomorrow
- 2005 - The Legacy of Einstein
- 2004 - The Science of Aging
- 2003 - The Story of Life
- 2002 - The Nature of Nurture
- 2001 - What is still to be discovered?
- 2000 - Globalization 2000: Economic Prospects and Challenges
1990s
- 1999 - Genetics in the New Millennium
- 1998 - Virus: The Human Connection
- 1997 - Unveiling the Solar System: 30 Years of Exploration
- 1996 - Apes at the End of an Age: Primate Language and Behavior in the '90s
- 1995 - The New Shape of Matter: Materials Challenge Science
- 1994 - Unlocking the Brain: Progress in Neuroscience
- 1993 - Nature Out of Balance: The New Ecology
- 1992 - Immunity: The Battle Within
- 1991 - The Evolving Cosmos
- 1990 - Chaos: The New Science
1980s
- 1989 - The End of Science?
- 1988 - The Restless Earth
- 1987 - Evolution of Sex
- 1986 - The Legacy of Keynes
- 1985 - The Impact of Science on Society
- 1984 - How We Know: The Inner Frontiers of Cognitive Science
- 1983 - Manipulating Life
- 1982 - Darwin's Legacy
- 1981 - The Place of Mind in Nature
- 1980 - The Aesthetic Dimension of Science
1970s
- 1979 - The Future of the Market Economy
- 1978 - Global Resources: Perspectives and Alternatives
- 1977 - The Nature of Life
- 1976 - The Nature of the Physical Universe
- 1975 - The Future of Science
- 1974 - The Quest for Peace
- 1973 - The Destiny of Women
- 1972 - The End of Life
- 1971 - Shaping the Future
- 1970 - Creativity
1960s
- 1969 - Communication
- 1968 - The Uniqueness of Man
- 1967 - The Human Mind
- 1966 - The Control of the Environment
- 1965 - Genetics and the Future of Man