The NIH Lecture Series
was established to facilitate the interchange of information and to
give appropriate recognition for outstanding scientific
accomplishment. Since January 1953, the various Institutes and the
Office of the Director have sponsored lectures. Lectures are open to
the scientific staff at NIH and at other medical, teaching, and
research institutions in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Every
year the lectures are published and distributed to scientific
libraries, universities, medical schools, and other appropriate
depositories. The series includes a number of special lectures,
described below, which honor outstanding NIH researchers.
The Margaret Pittman
Lectureship, established in 1994, honors Dr.
Pittman for her outstanding research accomplishments at the National
Institutes of Health. In her work with Haemophilus influenzae type b,
Dr. Pittman was the first to identify capsular type b as the one of
six types of H. influenzae responsible for most childhood meningitis.
As a result of Dr. Pittman's work in H. aegyptius, with NIAID
director Dorland Davis, the cause of epidemic conjunctivitis was
identified. Working with Salmonella typhi, she made key observations
that led to the development of a Vi-based vaccine. Dr. Pittman is
believed to have been the first woman laboratory chief at the NIH.
This lectureship is awarded by the NIH Director on the advice of the
Scientific Directors and on the recommendation of the NIH Women
Scientist Advisors.
The G. Burroughs Mider
Lectureship was established in 1968 by the Scientific
Directors to honor Dr. Mider for his distinguished service to NIH. He
served for eight years as the first NIH Director of Laboratories and
Clinics. (This position later became the Deputy Director for Science
and is currently the position of the Deputy Director for Intramural
Research.) The award is made annually to an NIH intramural scientist
who has contributed significantly to the biomedical research eminence
of NIH. This lectureship is awarded by the NIH Director on the advice
of the Scientific Directors.
The R.E. Dyer
Lectureship was established in 1950 by friends and
colleagues of Dr. Rolla E. Dyer, Director of the National Institutes
of Health (1942-50), to pay him tribute upon his retirement from the
Public Health Service. Dr. Dyer's major research contributions were
in the study of infectious diseases, especially endemic typhus. He
showed how typhus is spread and helped develop a vaccine against it.
The award is made once a year to a scientist who has made an
outstanding contribution to knowledge in a field of medical science.
This lectureship is awarded by the NIH Director on the advice of the
Scientific Directors.
The Cultural
Lectureship began as an extension of the NIH Lecture
Series in 1984 and is presented to honor achievement in the
understanding of some aspect of our culture rather than the
acquisition of important scientific data, as in the other
lectureships.
NIH Lecture Policy
Lecture nominees approved by the NIH Director will be carried
over from one year to the next if it is not possible to schedule a
lecture in the next season.
Publicity for the lecture, including preparation of
introductory remarks for the NIH Director, will be assigned to a
specific IC as early as possible by the Office of Intramural
Research. The institute's Scientific Director will be responsible
for the role of host, including sponsoring an informal dinner for
the speaker.
Gift Funds may be used for refreshments where such an
expenditure can be said to advance the mission of the agency.
Therefore gift funds may be used to cover the cost of refreshments
at the NIH Lectures.
The NIH Lectures will be scheduled at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesdays,
subject to availability of the Masur Auditorium. The Lipsett
Amphitheater will be scheduled, if possible, for Closed Circuit TV
broadcast to overflow audiences.
The honorarium for outside (non-government) speakers is
$1,000.