Famed physicist Stephen Hawking to speak, Texas A&M to inaugurate Mitchell Institute

Hawking is visiting Texas A&M as part of a month-long physics conference to inaugurate the university's George P. and Cynthia W. Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics, established with an endowment from the well-known Texas businessman and his wife, both of The Woodlands.

Hawking, whose best-selling books A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell have sold millions of copies around the world, is renowned as a scientist with the uncommon ability to communicate complex science in a way that touches people.

"The chance to hear the world's best-known living scientist discuss scientific wonders of the universe is a rare gift for us all," said H. Joseph Newton, dean of Texas A&M's College of Science. "This is the kind of event that will define the Mitchell Institute as a world-class forum in theoretical physics."

The Mitchell Institute, part of Texas A&M's College of Science, is bringing 11 of the world's top physicists to campus for an intensive scientific conference. The visiting scientists, from across the United States and Europe, will join Hawking, four of his Cambridge students and faculty experts from Texas A&M's own Department of Physics in an extended scientific dialog scheduled to run from Feb. 21 to March 21. Their discussions are not open to the public, but Hawking will present two one-hour lectures:

*At 4 p.m. on March 8, he will present "Gödel and the End of Physics" in Rudder Auditorium, on Texas A&M's College Station campus. The public is invited. Tickets are available for $3 for students and children, and $5 for others. Tickets are available at the Memorial Student Center Box Office (979-845-1234 or toll-free at 888-890-5667).

The talk will be preceded by an exhibition of hands-on science displays representing work from various departments at Texas A&M. The exhibition will be open from 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. in Rooms 225-226 of the Memorial Student Center. The exhibits will feature popular science that is accessible to all ages. The public is invited to attend.

*At 7 p.m. on March 14, Hawking will deliver a lecture, "Brane New World," at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands. Tickets will be available for $10 for covered seating and $5 for uncovered seating. Tickets will be available beginning March 1 at big new H-E-B stores in the Houston area and at The Pavilion Ticket Office (281-364-3024).