Helen Caldicott to Speak at ITP Commencement
Dr Helen Caldicott, named by the Smithsonian Institute as one of the most influential women of the 20th Century, will speak at ITP's commencement ceremony June 19, 2010. Dr. Caldicott is considered by many to be the single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises.
ITP President Tom Potterfield says, "Helen Caldicott truly embodies 'spirituality in action. ' We are thrilled to welcome such a widely recognized and effective role model for peace and for the environment. "
Dr. Caldicott has devoted the last 38 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. Following a successful career in pediatrics, Dr. Caldicott resigned in 1980 from the Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston to work full time on the prevention of nuclear war.
While living in the United States from 1977 to 1986, she co-founded the Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization of 23,000 doctors committed to educating their colleagues about the dangers of nuclear power, nuclear weapons and nuclear war. On trips abroad she helped start similar medical organizations in many other countries. The international umbrella group (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. She also founded the Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND) in the US in 1980.
Dr. Caldicott has received many prizes and awards for her work, most recently the Lannan Foundation's 2003 Prize for Cultural Freedom, 20 honorary doctoral degrees, and was personally nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Linus Pauling - himself a Nobel Laureate. She has written for numerous publications and has authored seven books: Nuclear Madness; Missile Envy; If You Love This Planet: A Plan to Heal the Earth; The New Nuclear Danger: George Bush's Military Industrial Complex; Nuclear Power is Not the Answer; and War In Heaven. Her most recent book is the revised and updated If You Love This Planet (March 2009).
She also has been the subject of several films, including "Eight Minutes to Midnight," nominated for an Academy Award in 1981, "If You Love This Planet," which won the Academy Award for best documentary in 1982, and "Helen's War: portrait of a dissident," recipient of the Sydney Film Festival Dendy Award for Best Documentary in 2004.
Dr Caldicott currently divides her time between Australia and the US where she lectures widely. She founded the US-based Nuclear Policy Research Institute (NPRI), which evolved into Beyond Nuclear, of which Dr Caldicott is Founding President. Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future.
Ticket and Parking Information
The auditorium is located at 2025 Kehoe Avenue in San Mateo. There will be limited street parking in this residential area. However, a large parking area behind the auditorium will be available. The doors of this ticketed event will open at noon with a light reception following the conclusion of the ceremony around 3:00 pm.
For more information about the graduation ceremony, please contact: Kaleo Waxman at kwaxman@itp.edu or Sean Hinton at shinton@itp.edu.
