Subscribe rss-microbe
Home ASM News ASM Branch Lectureships Program
ASM Branch Lectureships Program Print E-mail
The ASM Branch Lectureships (ASMBL) Program (formerly known as Waksman Foundation for Microbiology Lectures) annually selects a scientifically diverse group of outstanding speakers who are available to deliver lectures at ASM Branch meetings throughout the country.  The ASMBL program, originally funded by the Waksman Foundation and now fully funded by ASM, has been a mainstay of the Branch program for 40+ years and in the last 20 years has provided over 490 lectures to thousands of Branch meeting attendees. The Branches have consistently given the program high ratings, as evidenced in the 2009-2010 program surveys, with 95% of responding Branches indicating that they would recommend their Lecturer to others. In addition, 92% of the Lecturers who responded rated their overall experience at the Branches as excellent, and another 8% as satisfactory.

An important component of the ASMBL program is its emphasis on providing opportunities for students to interact with prominent lecturers representing a wide range of scientific interest areas. Ninety-six percent of the 2009-2010 Lecturers who responded to the program survey reported that they had met with students at Branch meetings to present lectures, participate in informal discussions, judge posters, and/or judge oral presentations.

The ASMBL Committee is pleased to announce its slate of Lecturers for the 2010-2011 program year:

Kathryn Boor, Cornell University

Peggy Cotter, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Andrew Darwin, New York University School of Medicine

Matthew Fields, Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University

Steven Finkel, University of Southern California

Dara Frank, Medical College of Wisconsin

Ferran Garcia-Pichel, Arizona State University

Millicent (Mimi) Goldschmidt, University of Texas Medical School, Houston

Donald Klein, Colorado State University

Stanley Maloy, Center for Microbial Sciences, San Diego State University

Yvette McCarter, University of Florida, Jacksonville

Kenneth Noll, University of Connecticut

Mitchell Palmer, National Animal Disease Center, Ames, Iowa

Liise-anne Pirofski, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Michèle Shuster, New Mexico State University

Lawrence Wackett, University of Minnesota

David Wang, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.

Marvin Whiteley, University of Texas at Austin

Susan Whittier, New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center

Christopher Woolverton, Kent State University

A list of topic areas covered by each individual Lecturer can be found on the ASM website in the Membership section at http://www.asm.org/index.php/membership/lecturers-and-topics.html. For a list of upcoming ASM Branch meetings, go to http://www.asm.org/index.php/what-s-new/branch-meetings-calendar.html.

Call for Nominations: The ASMBL Committee will begin selecting speakers for the 2011-2013 program in November 2010. Recommendations from the ASM membership are welcome! To propose a candidate for this program, please submit a short letter of recommendation to Gerri Hall, Chair, American Society for Microbiology Branch Lectureships Committee, c/o ASM Headquarters (e-mail c/o: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). The letter should summarize the candidate's qualifications for the program, including an assessment of the candidate's abilities as a speaker. Please provide a curriculum vitae, a list of possible lecture topics, and names of individuals who may be willing to comment upon the candidate's fitness for the program. (Note: the Committee does not accept self-nominations.) ASM also invites nominations for candidates from its international member community where international members are on sabbatical in, or otherwise visiting, the United States for at least one year. For more information on the program and speaker eligibility requirements, please visit our website at http://www.asm.org/index.php/membership/call-for-nominations.html or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The deadline for ASMBL nominations is 15 October 2010.