Reading, Pa. - Jerzy Nowak, Ph.D., founding director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention (CPSVP), will present the 10th annual Ellen S. Hurwitz Presidential Lecture on Faith, Reason and the Imagination on Tuesday, February 23, 2010. The lecture, Memories and Reflections: April 16, 2007 Tragedy at Virginia Tech, will be held at 7 p.m. in Albright’s Memorial Chapel. It is free and open to the public.

Nowak was appointed founding director of Virginia Tech’s CPSVP in July 2008. Nowak, who previously served as professor and head of the Department of Horticulture at Virginia Tech, lost his wife, Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, on April 16, 2007, when studentSeung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded many others before committing suicide. Nowak has also facilitated and co-facilitated the development of two Virginia Tech post-April 16 memorial projects.

The CPSVP at Virginia Tech is a student-centered, cross-disciplinary undertaking that builds on the academic, cultural, and security initiatives that evolved within the Virginia Tech community after the tragedy of April 16, 2007. Since its inception on July 1, 2008, the center has adopted three thematic areas: the prevention of violence, peace studies, and creation of opportunities for the development of new leaders for this century.

The Ellen S. Hurwitz Presidential Lecture Series on Faith, Reason and the Imagination was established in honor of Albright’s twelfth president. The series, which focuses on both faith and spirit, invites world-class leaders to Albright to foster conversations across the many faith traditions at Albright, connecting learning, creativity and the cosmic picture.

Memorial Chapel is located on the Albright College campus at 13th & Union Streets, Reading. For more information or disabled assistance, please contact the Chaplain’s Office at 610-921-7716.  

Founded in 1856, Albright College is a nationally ranked, private college with a rigorous liberal arts curriculum with an interdisciplinary focus. The College’s hallmarks are connecting fields of learning, collaborative teaching and learning, and a flexible curriculum that allows students to create an individualized education. Two-thirds of students graduate with dual/individualized majors in more than 200 different combinations. Albright enrolls about 1,625 undergraduates in traditional programs, another 500 adult students in accelerated degree programs, and 100 students in the master’s program in education. Albright College is located in Reading, Pennsylvania, about 60 miles west of Philadelphia.