This year’s Leonards lecturer is Professor Bernard Amadei of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Dr. Amadei, a distinguished expert in the field of rock mechanics, and a leader in the areas of sustainability, international development, and engineering education, is known also for his deep involvement in Engineers Without Borders a non-profit humanitarian organization which partners engineers and engineering students with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. Dr. Amadei, like Jerry Leonards, shares with other five previous Leonards lecturers the distinction of being a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

In his lecture, entitled Engineering with a Human Face, Dr. Amadei, the founding President of Engineers Without Borders – USA and the co-founder of the Engineers Without Borders-International network, will discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with providing sustainable, equitable and appropriate solutions to the basic needs of about 5 billion people whose job is to stay alive by the end of the day; and emphasize that addressing today's developing world problems requires the education of a new generation of globalized engineers working hand-in-hand with local communities, governments, and international development organizations and an engineering profession willing to interact with other disciplines.

The lecture, which this year is co-sponsored by Purdue University’s Chapter of Sigma Xi, will be held in Fowler Hall in Purdue University's Stewart Center at 4:30 p.m. on Friday April 24, 2009, and is free and open to the public.

As in previous years, the Leonards lecture will be preceded by a workshop. The topic of the 7th Purdue Geotechnical Society Workshop, inspired by this year’s Leonards lecture, is Sustainable, Stable, and Equitable Communities: Near and Far. It will include key-note lectures by Dr. W. F. Brumund, of Golder Associates, on "Ethical, Design, and Cultural Considerations when Working Primarily Outside the United States" and by Professor Rabi Mohtar, Director of the Purdue Global Engineering Program on "Global Engineering Trends", as well as nine other shorter presentations. Support for the PGS workshop and Leonards lecture is provided by the following sponsors: Earth Exploration, Inc., Indianapolis; Fugro Consultants, Inc., Houston; Golder Associates, Atlanta; Haley and Aldrich, Boston.

Additional information on the Leonards lecture and the PGS workshop, as well as registration information for the latter, can be found at: https://engineering.purdue.edu/PGS