ICS Distinguished Lecturer Series

2025-2026 Distinguished Lecturers

April17

Understanding the Mysteries of the Cell: How Do Many Cell Types Arise from One Genome?

Stephen Quake

Lee Otterson Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at Stanford University, and Head of Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

4:00 PM

Beckman Center

Watch the Video! Reception from 4 pm at the Atrium Talk from 4:30 pm at the Auditorium Abstract: Is the genome a biological computer code…

2023-2024 Distinguished Lecturers

February15

ICS Distinguished Lecturer Series

How Not to Destroy the World with AI – On Second Thoughts

Stuart Russell

Professor of Computer Science, UC Berkeley

5:00 PM

Beckman Center

Watch the Video! Reception from 5-6 pm at the Atrium Talk from 6-7 pm at the Auditorium Abstract: The media are agog with claims that…

2019-2020 Distinguished Lecturers

June7

Distinguished Lecture: Who Gets What? The New Economics of Matching and Market Design

Al Roth

Nobel Laureate, Professor of Economics, Stanford University

5:00 PM

Calit2

Watch the video » Abstract: Market design is an ancient human activity but a relatively new part of economics. It seeks to understand how the design…

February25

Distinguished Lecture: Opportunities and Perils of Data Science: A Roadmap

Alfred Spector

Chief Technology Officer, Two Sigma

5:00 PM

6011, Donald Bren Hall

Watch the video » View slides from the presentation » Abstract: Data-driven approaches have led to powerful prediction, optimization and automation techniques. Powered by large-scale, networked computer…

2017-2018 Distinguished Lecturers

October19

Distinguished Lecture: What’s At Stake in the Oracle v. Google Software Copyright Case?

Pamela Samuelson

Distinguished Professor of Law & Information, UC Berkeley

5:00 PM

6011, Donald Bren Hall

Watch the video » Abstract: Freedom to reimplement application program interfaces (APIs) in independently written software is the key issue at stake in the Oracle v.…

March16

Distinguished Lecture: An Expanding and Expansive View of Computing

Jim Kurose

Assistant Director National Science Foundation, Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)

5:00 PM

Donald Bren Hall

Watch the video » Abstract: Advances in computer and information science and engineering are providing unprecedented opportunities for research and education. My talk will begin with…

November15

Distinguished Lecture: The Human Strategy

Alex “Sandy” Pentland

Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, Toshiba Professor, Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program Director Massachusetts Institute of Technology

5:00 PM

6011, Donald Bren Hall

Watch the video » Abstract: How can we live in a world of AI, big data, social media echo chambers and cyberattacks? How can we create…