News Update--Special Issue of Journal Dedicated to E. E. Just and the Symposium:

Under the editorial leadership of Dr. Gary Wessel of Brown University, seven of the symposium speakers (Manning, Byrnes, Kloc, Wasarman, Wessel, Brewster and Newman) have published papers in a special section dedicated to Just in the October 2009 issue of the journal Molecular Reproduction and Development. In addition, biologist and science historian Jan Sapp has contributed a paper, bringing the total number in the special issue to eight.

To view these papers, go to the journal's website (access is free). A PDF of the table of contents of this issue can be found here.

All indications are that the symposium was a rousing success. Eighty-four people attended (see List of Participants); they came from Howard, as well as from universities and federal agencies in the area, and included PhD-level scientists, students, and laypersons. The talks were all excellent; each served to highlight the legacy of E. E. Just. Thanks are due to the National Science Foundation for funding the symposium, and to Howard University Graduate School for funding the expansion of the luncheon so that more people could attend. Special thanks go to Dr. Gwendolyn Bethea and Ms. Diane Peoples in the graduate school for their help in making the symposium a success. Finally, a heartfelt thank you goes to the speakers who in many cases traveled long distances to honor E. E. Just on Howard's campus, to the moderators who insured that the day went smoothly, and to the participants who came from throughout the area to attend this special event.

This website contains comments from symposium participants, photographs from the luncheon, and a video recording of Dr. Kenneth Manning's memorable luncheon keynote address about his experiences writing Black Apollo of Science, the biography of Just, and his thoughts on African Americans in science. For these, see the page titled "Comments, Photos and Video."

W. Malcolm Byrnes

Howard University

August 21, 2009