RICHARDSON, Texas (March 25, 2003) - Dr. Roderick A. Heelis, noted space researcher at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), will deliver the university's annual Polykarp Kusch Lecture next week with an address entitled, "Our Space Environment."

In his talk, Heelis will examine the seemingly benign outer space environment of the earth, which, in actuality he says, is "quite variable and inhospitable." Heelis will describe how the earth's space environment reacts to changes in the sun and show how this complex interaction affects space-borne communications and navigation systems.

The presentation is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2, in the McDermott Library's McDermott Auditorium (MC2.410) on the UTD campus in Richardson. The talk is free and open to the public.

Heelis holds the Cecil and Ida Green Honors Chair in Physics at UTD. He is also the head of the Physics Department and director of the William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences.

Heelis is recognized as one of the leading space scientists in the United States. He conducts research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. In addition to his research activities, Heelis serves on a number of advisory committees and working groups, including the NASA Space Science Advisory committee, the National Research Council Space Science Decadal Survey Committee and the NASA Geospace Mission Definition Team.

Heelis holds a Ph.D. degree in applied and computational mathematics from the University of Sheffield in England.

For additional information about the event, please call (972) 883-2272.

About the Polykarp Kusch Lecture Series
The late Polykarp Kusch was the 1955 Nobel Laureate in Physics. He came to UTD in 1972, where he was a Regental Professor and served on the university's physics faculty until he reached emeritus status in 1982. His science career was marked by a delight in teaching and research, and he connected with his students in countless ways, including via presentations of physics experiments in his "Phenomena of Nature" classes.

Prior to joining UTD, Kusch served as professor, vice president, provost and dean of faculties at Columbia University.

When he retired in 1982, UTD endowed a program of annual lectures with the theme Concerns of the Lively Mind to honor Kusch.

About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 13,000 students. The school's freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university's Web site at http://www.utdallas.edu/.