The UCS will also launch a new Center for Science and Democracy designed to strengthen American ...]]>

The nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) will hold a conference on "Science and Democracy in Turmoil" on Thursday, May 17, at the Norton Woods Conference Center of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) in Somerville, Mass.

The UCS will also launch a new Center for Science and Democracy designed to strengthen American democracy by restoring the essential role of science, evidence-based knowledge and constructive debate in U.S. policymaking.

The May 17 conference will honor Harvard's Aetna Professor of Public Policy and Corporate Management (Emeritus) Lewis M. Branscomb with a panel discussion featuring: Tufts University President Emeritus Lawrence S. Bacow; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Jessica T. Mathews: National Cancer Institute Director and Nobel Laureate Harold Varmus; and AAAS President Leslie Berkowitz. The discussion will be moderated by National Public Radio host Steve Curwood.

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World-class and working class New England colleges made changes at the top today.

Tufts University, the world-famous research university centered in Medford, Mass., announced its next president will be Anthony P. Monaco, pro-vice-chancellor for planning and resources at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. A neuroscientist, Monaco identified the first gene specifically involved ...]]>

World-class and working class New England colleges made changes at the top today.

Tufts University, the world-famous research university centered in Medford, Mass., announced its next president will be Anthony P. Monaco, pro-vice-chancellor for planning and resources at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. A neuroscientist, Monaco identified the first gene specifically involved in human language. He will succeed Lawrence S. Bacow next summer. Though he spent 20 years at Oxford, Monaco is a native of Wilmington, Del., and was a first-generation college student at Princeton University.

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Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, a two-year technical college in Boston, named George C. Chryssis as its next president effective Jan. 1, 2011. Chryssis founded several high-technology companies, including some specializing in fiber optics and software. Most recently, he served as vice president of executive affairs at Wentworth Institute of Technology and oversaw Wentworth's Center for Community Learning & Partnerships.