Population expert to give public address at KU April 8

LAWRENCE -- Werner Fornos, president of the Population Institute, based in Washington, D.C., will present the annual Sigma Xi Honors Lecture at the University of Kansas at 8 p.m. Monday, April 8, in Woodruff Auditorium of the Kansas Union. The lecture, "Gaining People, Losing Resources: Searching for Solutions," is free and open to the public.

An internationally acclaimed expert on world population issues, Fornos will discuss the problems caused by rapidly increasing population in a world of limited and decreasing resources.

Named one of the world's 100 most influential people in development and environment by the New York-based Earth Times newspaper for the third consecutive year, Fornos is a multiple Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow, a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Maryland, and most recently, the recipient of the Order of Merit, the highest distinction awarded by the German government to a non-German citizen in recognition of humanitarian efforts. He has been president of the Population Institute for more than 20 years, and he makes frequent national television and radio appearances and contributes to newspaper and magazine articles. He also frequently participates in overseas meetings dealing with world population concerns.

Fornos speaks to diverse audiences -- from college students and civic organizations to U.S. and U.N. officials -- pressing for "rational solutions to the population problem."

Sigma Xi is a national honorary scientific research society. Full membership, achieved by invitation, is for people who have demonstrated marked aptitude for research by publishing experimental or investigative results. Students just beginning their careers may become associate members. The society was founded in 1886; the KU chapter became the fourth in the nation in 1889.

The KU chapter of Sigma Xi and the KU environmental studies program sponsor the Fornos lecture.