The MCD Diversity Committee, the Genomics Institute Diversity Committee, and STEM Diversity invite you attend this talk with a scientist, advocate, and researcher devoted to equity and inclusion.

Please join for drinks and light refreshments after the talk from 4-5 PM.

Bio: David Asai attended Stanford University (Chemistry, BS; Biology, MS), Caltech (Biology, PhD), and was a postdoc and research scientist at UC Santa Barbara, then a professor at Purdue University where he was Head of Biological Sciences. After 18.5 years at Purdue, he moved to Harvey Mudd College where he was Stuart Mudd Professor and Chair of Biology.

Asai's research group studied the structural diversity and functional specialization of dyneins in sea urchin embryos and Tetrahymena thermophila. In 2008, he joined the Howard Hughes Medical Institute where he was Senior Director for Science Education. His group at HHMI created several initiatives aimed at improving the learning and training environment for all students, including Inclusive Excellence, Driving Change, the new Gilliam graduate fellowships program, and the Scientific Mentorship Initiative. Asai retired from the HHMI in 2024.

Asai was a member of the NASEM committee that produced the 2023 report Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations. He currently serves on several boards and advisory committees. He received the Bruce Alberts Award for innovative and sustained contributions to science education, the Wm. E. Bennett Award for contributions to civically responsible science, and was the inaugural Ambrose Jearld Lectureship on Diversity and Inclusion. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society for Cell Biology.

UCSC affiliates can join via Zoom using their ucsc.edu email addresses here:

https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/96268207742?pwd=t5p37TP48bT7lFNY9XDHGuV323DqoJ.1
Meeting ID: 962 6820 7742
Passcode: UCSC