ANN ARBOR—Five Distinguished University Professors during the winter semester will present lectures drawing on some of their best work. They have earned the highest honor accorded faculty members by the University of Michigan.

Here is the schedule for honorees to present:

? Feb. 7: Philip Bucksbaum, the Peter Franken Distinguished University Professor of Physics,” Ultrafast Control of Atoms and Molecules.”

? Feb. 21: Sheldon Danziger, the Henry J. Meyer Distinguished University Professor of Public Policy,” America’s Persisting Poverty: What Research Says About How to Reduce It.”

? March 28: Charles Yocum, the Alfred S. Sussman Distinguished University Professor. Topic: The mechanism by which binding of a polypeptide manganese stabilizing protein to a large protein complex photosystem II stimulates this enzyme’s ability to use light to produce oxygen from water–the reaction that supports nearly all life on earth.

? April 4: Pallab Bhattacharya, the Charles M. Vest Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,” From Pigeons to Spin-Polarized Lasers: Transmission of Information Through the Ages.”

? April 11: Melvin Hochster, the Jack. E. McLaughlin Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics. Topic: The contributions of McLaughlin to the Mathematics Department and problems associated with mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.

The lectures begin at 4 p.m. in the Rackham Amphitheatre. A reception will follow in the Rackham Assembly Hall.

These professors earn an annual salary supplement of $5,000 and an annual research supplement of $5,000. The duration of the appointment is unlimited, and the title may be retained after retirement.

“These faculty members are outstanding scholars who push the frontiers of knowledge in their respective fields,” said Edward Gramlich, interim provost.” They are representative of the University’s tremendous depth and breadth as they hold appointments in several different schools and colleges.”

BUCKSBAUM

Bucksbaum, the Otto Laporte College Professor of Physics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, is considered one of the world’s leading physicists in atomic, molecular and optical physics. His impact in the physical sciences began during his graduate studies, with work that provided early confirmation for the Standard Model of particle physics.

With his mentor, Eugene Cummins, Bucksbaum authored a textbook in the new field of electroweak interactions that was a standard text for more than a decade. Since then, he has made seminal contributions in optical and laser science, semiconductor physics, molecular physics, quantum physics, and ultrafast optical and X ray science, all marked by creativity, ingenuity, technical expertise, and a profound joy in exploring new areas of physics.

DANZIGER

Danziger, who also is a research professor in the Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research, is a renowned scholar of poverty, inequality and public policy. For three decades, he has been a major figure in the analysis of the effects of economic, demographic and social policy changes on poverty in the United States. His international reputation is based not only on publications notable for their contributions to a wide range of disciplines, but also on his ability to generate creative policy research by other scholars.

“America Unequal” (1995), co-authored by Danziger and Peter Gottschalk, documented how economic growth after 1970 benefitted the poor relatively little because of rising labor market inequalities. Danzinger is widely cited as the organizer and co-editor of three summary volumes,” Fighting Poverty” (1986),” Confronting Poverty” (1994) and” Understanding Poverty” (2002).

YOCUM

An internationally recognized scientist and authority on photosynthesis, Yocum is considered one of the world’s top half-dozen researchers in photosynthesis. He made a key contribution to the field by discovering a simple way to purify the protein complex, photosystem II. This was a critical breakthrough, permitting researchers to conduct the controlled experiments necessary to understanding the photosynthesis process.

In addition to receiving nearly every distinguished award offered by the University, Yocum has been recognized nationally as a senior Fulbright scholar, a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

BHATTACHARYA

During the last 25 years, Bhattacharya, the James R. Mellor Professor of Engineering, has made outstanding and seminal contributions in the areas of growth and characterization of III-V compound semiconductors and their application to optoelectric devices and optoelectronic integrated circuits. Some of his most important contributions include work on integrated high-speed lasers, self-organized quantum dots, room-temperature quantum dots, quantum dot intersubband detectors, and photonic crystal micro cavities?a field in which he widely is regarded as one of the world’s top researchers.

HOCHSTER

One of the most eminent mathematicians in the world, Hochster has had a transforming impact on his field of commutative algebra. He is the originator of topics discussed at commutative algebra conferences everywhere, and the tools, techniques and basic theorems of the field often are of his design. His influence on the field of commutative algebra is pervasive.

Among his many honors, Hochster received the Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Algebra in 1980 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1982. In 1992, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. He won the Margaret and Herman Sokol Faculty Award in the Sciences in 2001.