One of the great things about BYU is the practice of a campus-wide devotionals/forums at the Marriott Center every Tuesday with great speakers including Church leaders, BYU faculty and leaders, and and notable figures from around the world (the latter typically for secular topics). The calendar for upcoming devotionals and forums shows that on March 31 at 11:05 am, Dr. David Dearden of the Chemistry Department is the speaker. You should attend this event! Why? Because Dr. Dearden is a brilliant thinker and inspiring Latter-day Saint with a lot of meaningful things to say. I had the privilege of being his debate partner in high school – he was terrific! – and his roommate for a while in college. Since then, I’ve been impressed with his achievements in chemistry (Ph.D. from the highly-rated California Institute of Technology and recipient of the coveted National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award) and other fields.

Among his numerous achievements, he has done much to help the world appreciate the beauty of cucurbit[6]uril pseudorotaxanes, and I dare say that the more popular poems and one-act plays on that topic were probably inspired by his work. 😉 Unfortunately, I don’t think his devotional speech is going to delve into advanced chemistry – but it should be spiritually uplifting and intellectually enlightening nonetheless. Don’t miss it! Kudos, Dave!

Hey, will this be broadcast on the Web through KBYU TV? Anyone know?