Biologist E.O. Wilson To Join 10th Anniversary Celebration Of UA’s Rodgers Library

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University Libraries at The University of Alabama will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Eric and Sarah Rodgers Science and Engineering Library on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 10 a.m. in the Rodgers Library foyer on the UA campus. The public is invited to attend the free event.

Renowned biologist Dr. E.O. Wilson will be the guest of honor and will speak at the event. When his book, “The Naturalist,” was added to UA’s library collections in 1995 it became the collections two millionth volume. Wilson was also a guest speaker during that two millionth volume celebration.

Additionally, Wilson will present the inaugural Bloom Undergraduate Initiative Lectureship Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 4 p.m., in the auditorium of Morgan Hall on the UA campus. Endowed by Star and Stan Bloom of Tuscaloosa, the lectureship is designed to bring prominent scholars, researchers and writers to the University as part of the Blount Undergraduate Initiative in the College of Arts and Sciences.

A UA graduate and Harvard research professor, Wilson has written a number of critically acclaimed books explaining the sciences to the world outside the tangled, jargon-filled world of academic research. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes and is one of the founders of the science of sociobiology.

His argument that social behaviors have a genetic component changed the study of human behavior and generated a great deal of discussion and debate. In addition to his inclusion among Time magazine’s 25 Most Influential Americans list, he has received numerous other awards and honors, including the national Medal of Science and 24 honorary degrees from colleges and universities across America and abroad.

Built in 1990, the Eric and Sarah Rodgers Library is the first departmental library at UA to be built with the intent of taking maximum advantage of computer-based information systems for research. The Thomas Jefferson-designed library at the University of Virginia was the inspiration for the original UA library destroyed during the Civil War, and the Rodgers Library incorporates the dome and rotunda architectural elements reminiscent of that original design.

“The dedication of the Eric and Sarah Rodgers Library for Science and Engineering in 1990 signaled the beginning of a continuing series of major improvements in the quality of space dedicated to library services at The University of Alabama,” said Dr. Charles Osburn, dean of University Libraries. “I am very pleased to have the occasion of this celebration to recognize the substantial progress that has been made and equally proud that The University of Alabama assigns such high priority to library service.”

“The Rodgers Library is one of the most modern and beautiful science and engineering libraries in North America,” continued John Sandy, head of Rodgers Library and professor. “The library does an excellent job supporting instruction and research with an outstanding collection of journals and monographs, and numerous specialized electronic databases.”

The library, located on the corner of Hackberry Lane and Campus Drive, was named in honor of Dr. Eric Rodgers, a professor at UA from 1932 to 1971, and his wife, Sarah, who also was a professor at UA from 1930 to 1971. It is a component of UA’s Energy & Mineral Resources Complex. This complex includes the Mineral Industries Building and the Tom Bevill Energy, Mineral and Materials Science Research Building.