MIT Alumni Event - LA High Table Presents: DR. John Vidale
(NOT A CCLA SPONSORED EVENT)
Location: Private home in Hancock Park, exact address will be sent to all registrants a few days prior to the event.
Event format: 30 min mingling, 60 min High Table Program featuring Dr. John Vidale, 60 min networking and discussion post-talk with potluck refreshments.
Join Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Princeton alums for a Los Angeles High Table mixer aimed at showcasing dynamic speakers in an intimate setting that facilitates connection with your fellow alumni.
About the speaker:
John Vidale is the Dean's Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Southern California. A noted seismologist, he has worked with seismic waves in many different contexts, from the study of earthquakes to the use of seismic signals to probe the Earth’s inner core.
Dr. Vidale was born in Philadelphia and grew up in several east coast states as well as New Mexico. He entered Yale intending to go into physics, but soon realized he found geology more fun; he graduated in 1981 with a double BS in Physics and Geology. He went on to earn a PhD from Caltech in 1986, followed by researcher appointments at UC Santa Cruz and USGS in Menlo Park. Dr. Vidale joined UCLA as a professor in 1995 where he served as the head of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics from 2002 to 2006. In 2006, he moved to the University of Washington to direct the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and serve as the Washington State Seismologist. Dr. Vidale has been a professor at the University of Southern California since 2017. He is a former director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, which he led from 2017-2018.
Dr. Vidale has worked on a variety of projects related to earthquakes, Earth structure, volcanoes, and the hazards of strong shaking. His early work focused on applying numerical methods to study earthquakes, including a widely cited formula for tracking the arrival of seismic wavefronts on a grid. As the director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, Dr. Vidale monitored the Cascade volcanoes, explored how the area responded to strong shaking, and quantified the impacts on bridges and tall buildings. He played a key role in the development of the earthquake early warning system used throughout the US west coast. Dr. Vidale also uses seismic waves to probe the mysteries of the Earth's core; for example, he recently found that the shape of the core is changing over time.
Dr. Vidale has received numerous awards including election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2017, American Geophysical Union's James B. Macelwane Medal in 1994, and USC Dornsife's natural science communicator of the year for 2022-2023.
Potluck suggestions:
We ask that you please bring a dish to share for lunch. Suggestions by last name are below:
- A-E: Desserts / Drinks
- F-K: Salads / Appetizers
- L-Z: Main Dishes
Parking & Accessibility:
Street parking is easily available. There are a small number of steps between the street and the house.
Cost:
$5 per person. We also request you contribute to our potluck. Suggestions above.
Click here to RSVP
Contact:
For questions about the event please email Jon Rosen @ (la.hightable.reg@gmail.com)