Author Safi Bahcall will deliver annual Self symposium lecture


Wed, 03/17/2021

author

Michelle Compton-Muñoz

LAWRENCE — Safi Bahcall, a bestselling author, biotech entrepreneur and business consultant, will deliver the Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship Symposium Lecture at the University of Kansas.

Safi BahcallBahcall will present “Strategy in Times of Crisis” at 3:30 p.m. April 15 via Zoom. Registration is required for the free public webinar and can be accessed at Bit.ly/SGFSymposium.

Bahcall received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Harvard University and his doctorate in physics from Stanford University. After working for three years as a consultant for McKinsey, Bahcall co-founded a biotechnology company developing new drugs for cancer. He led its IPO and served as its CEO for 13 years. In 2001, he worked with President Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on the future of national research.

Bahcall is the author of “Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries.” His book was the No. 1 recommended book of the year in Bloomberg’s annual survey of CEOs and entrepreneurs, and it was selected as a best business book of the year by Amazon, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Forbes, Inc., Newsweek, Strategy + Business, TechCrunch and the Washington Post.

In “Loonshots,” Bahcall reveals a surprising new way of thinking about the mysteries of group behavior that challenges everything we thought we knew about nurturing radical breakthroughs. Drawing on the science of phase transitions, Bahcall shows why teams, companies or any group with a mission will suddenly change from embracing wild new ideas to rigidly rejecting them, just as flowing water will suddenly change into brittle ice. “Loonshots” identifies the small shifts in structure that control this transition, the same way that temperature controls the change from water to ice.

Using examples that range from the spread of fires in forests to the hunt for terrorists online, and stories of thieves and geniuses and kings, Bahcall shows how this new kind of science helps people understand the behavior of companies and the fate of empires.

The Self Graduate Fellowship Symposium Lecture is sponsored by the Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship. The mission of the Self Graduate Fellowship is to identify, recruit and provide development opportunities for exceptional doctoral students in business, economics, engineering, mathematics, biological, biomedical, pharmaceutical and physical sciences who demonstrate the promise to make significant contributions to their fields of study and society as a whole. 

The late Madison “Al” and Lila Self launched and permanently endowed the Self Graduate Fellowship in 1989. The creation of the Self Graduate Fellowship was motivated by Madison and Lila Selfs belief in the vital importance of developing leadership for tomorrow. 

Wed, 03/17/2021

author

Michelle Compton-Muñoz

Media Contacts

Michelle Compton-Muñoz

Madison and Lila Self Graduate Programs

785-864-2434