ITHACA, N.Y. -- George Georgiou, the Joe C. Walter Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas-Austin, will deliver the 18th annual Julian C. Smith Lectures in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell Monday, April 18, and Tuesday, April 19. Both talks are slated for 4 p.m. in 255 Olin Hall and will be preceded by a 3:15 p.m. reception in the Fred H. Rhodes Lounge in 128 Olin Hall. The lectures are free and open to the public.

The April 18 lecture is titled "Synthetic Biology: Biochemical Engineering Revisited?"The April 19 lecture is "Engineering and Structure-Function of Therapeutic Antibodies and Enzymes."

Georgiou's research interests are in biotechnology with special emphasis on the development of new technologies for protein engineering and molecular therapeutics. His research group also is working on mechanistic aspects of protein biogenesis, focusing on protein secretion in bacteria, protein oxidation and folding in the cell and the regulation of mRNA degradation.

Georgiou, the recipient of many awards including a Presidential Young Investigator Award, a Dow Outstanding Young Faculty Award and the E. Bergman Prize from the U.S.-Israel Science Foundation, is the author of over 150 research publications, co-inventor of 30 patents and editor of five books; he also serves on the editorial board of five biotechnology journals.

The Julian C. Smith Lectureship in Chemical Engineering was established in 1988 by members of the Cornell chemical engineering class of 1962 and other friends, colleagues and former students to honor the professor emeritus of chemical engineering.