The architectural firm SmithGroup supports this lecture series at the Beckman Institute. Formerly Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls Associates of Detroit, SmithGroup designed the Beckman Institute. The firm was particularly proud of this project and presented a modest endowment to support a lecture series in its name. The gift was given in honor of the founding director of the Institute, Theodore L. Brown.

Previous SmithGroup Lectures

• Albert-László Barabási (April 2019)
  Center of Complex Networks Research, Northeastern University; Division of Network Medicine, Harvard University; and the Department of Network and Data Sciences at Central European University.
• Sandra Tsing Loh (April 2018)
  Host of the syndicated daily radio science minute and NPR podcast “The Loh Down on Science” and adjunct associate professor in drama and science communication at University of California, Irvine.
• L. Mahadevan (April 2017)
  England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, professor of physics, Harvard University
• Michael Posner (April 2016 )
  Professor emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon
• Chad Mirkin (October 2014)
  George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry and Director, International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University
• Victor Regnier (April 2013)
  Professor of architecture and gerontology at the University of Southern California
• Jeff Hawkins (November 2010 )
  Founder, Numenta, Inc.
• Felice Frankel (September 2008 )
  Senior Research Fellows, Harvard
• Helen Neville (October 2007 )
  Psychology/Neuroscience, Oregon
• James Carey (April 2006)
  Entomology, University of California-Davis
• Douglas Noll (October 2003)
  Biomedical Engineering, Michigan
• Lawrence Rabiner (October 2001)
  Vice President AT&T Labs
• George Whitesides (March 1999)
  Chemistry, Harvard
• Norman Allinger (March 1995)
  Chemistry, Georgia
• Inaugural speaker: James Watson (October 1992)
  Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory