Co-inventor of oral contraceptive to speak at LaSells

 Carl Djerassi, professor emeritus of chemistry from Stanford University, will speak at the Construction and Engineering Hall at LaSells Stewart Center on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. The talk will be free and open to the public, and there will be books Djerassi has written available for sale and signing at the lecture.  

"The main focus of his talk will be what he calls ‘science-in-theater' and ‘science-in-literature,'" said Ray Malewitz, assistant professor of English in the school of Writing, Literature and Film at Oregon State University. Malewitz also said the lecture will "feature a dramatic reading of a scene from his new play ‘Phallacy' with theater professor Charlotte Headrick."

Born in Vienna, Austria in 1923, Djerassi attended Kenyon College and received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He joined Syntex in Mexico City in 1949, where in 1951 he would co-invent the first oral contraceptive pill.

"Without a question, his work in the area of female oral contraceptives that came out of his work in Syntex was his greatest legacy," said James D. White, distinguished professor emeritus of organic chemistry at OSU. White also felt that Djerassi is under appreciated in some respects. "Individuals have won Nobel prizes for less than Djerassi's accomplishments," he said.

Djerassi's art career eventually surpassed his science career.

"He is better known now for his art than his chemistry," White said. "He has attracted lots of people to his art on display in San Francisco."

Anita Helle, professor of English and transitional director of the school of writing, literature and film, added that some of Djerassi's interests in the humanities were influenced by his wife Diane Middlebrook's interests in gender and poetry.

"Professor Middlebrook's interest in thinking about how gender and sexuality plays out in everyday life and literary representation, and Professor Djerassi's discoveries in biochemistry and subsequent literary work have overlapping themes," White said.

Djerassi's lecture is the first in the 2012 Critical Questions lecture series, which is put on by the School of Writing, Literature and Film. The series brings speakers in the fields of literature, rhetoric and film to OSU. Support for the series comes from the Horning Endowment in the Humanities.

Vinay Ramakrishnan, staff reporter

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