TORONTO, October 12, 2001 -- Dr. Roberta Bondar, Canada's first woman to travel in space, will give a talk and slide show, "Reaching Beyond....", about earth and space, and overcoming personal obstacles towards becoming an astronaut. Her public presentation will take place Monday, October 15, at 8 p.m., in York University’s Vari Hall, Lecture Hall A, 4700 Keele Street.
As a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery in January 1992, Bondar studied the human body’s reaction to weightlessness and the growth of plants in zero gravity.
Bondar, a neurologist, is currently researching the physiological change that occurs in humans in space and how it applies to life on earth. It is hoped that the discoveries will initiate more effective treatments of diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, Parkinson's Disease and Shy Drager's Syndrome.
An Officer of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, Bondar is the recipient of the NASA Space Medal. She holds a BSc in zoology and agriculture, University of Guelph, 1968; an MSc in experimental pathology, University of Western Ontario, 1971; a PhD in neurobiology, University of Toronto, 1974; and an MD, McMaster University, 1977. She was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada as a specialist in neurology in 1981 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree (DSc) from York University in 1992.
Bondar’s presentation is presented by the Kitty Lundy Memorial Fund in York’s Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies. The Kitty Lundy Memorial Lecture was established in honour of Atkinson sociology professor Kitty Lundy, who was killed in a car accident 12 years ago. The mandate of the memorial fund is to bring to campus scholarly and cultural presentations, especially on topics of interest to mature students and women.
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For further information, please contact:
Prof. Coleman Romalis
Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies
York University
416-657-1708
cromalis@yorku.ca
Ken Turriff
Media Relations
York University
416-736-2100, ext. 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/109/01
