Dr. Bruce Beutler, director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at UT Southwestern Medical Center, will discuss his career Thursday at the 2014 Anson L. Clark Memorial Lecture.

Dr. Bruce Beutler, who won the 2011 Nobel Prize for his pioneering discoveries about the immune system, will speak this week at UT Dallas about the trajectory of his extraordinary career in biomedical science.

Beutler will deliver the 2014 Anson L. Clark Memorial Lecture, “A Career as an Explorer – My Life in Biomedical Science,” at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Clark Center Lecture Hall (CN 1.112). His talk will be geared toward undergraduate students, with the aim of engaging and inspiring those who are interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“By showcasing a role model like Dr. Beutler who exemplifies the scientific explorer, we hope to encourage students to pursue graduate education and ultimately careers in STEM fields,” said Dr. Bruce Novak, dean of UT Dallas’ School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, which sponsors the lecture. “Armed with advanced degrees, this next generation will not only help ensure a vibrant new wave of explorers and scientific discoveries, but also will contribute to critical needs in the workforce.”

Beutler’s lecture is free, but registration for a ticket is required. On Friday at noon, Beutler also will give a technical lecture for graduate students and faculty focusing on the genetic analysis of immunity in mammals.

Beutler is director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense and holder of the Raymond and Ellen Willie Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research, in honor of Laverne and Raymond Willie Sr. at UT Southwestern Medical Center. His discovery of how the innate immune system recognizes and responds to infection in mammals earned him a share of the 2011 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

2014 Anson L. Clark Memorial Lecture

“A Career as an Explorer – My Life in Biomedical Science”

Speaker: Dr. Bruce Beutler, director, Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and 2011 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine

4 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Clark Center Lecture Hall (CN 1.112)

Beutler received his medical degree from the University of Chicago at the age of 23, and, after a residency at UT Southwestern, he served on the faculty of Rockefeller University. In 1986, he became a faculty member and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at UT Southwestern, where he conducted his groundbreaking research on the immune system. In 2000, he moved to the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. He returned to UT Southwestern’s faculty in 2011.

A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, Beutler has authored or co-authored more than 300 papers. Before receiving the Nobel Prize, he also won the Shaw Prize and the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, among many other honors.

The Anson L. Clark Memorial Lecture series began in the early 1970s and has drawn distinguished speakers to the UT Dallas campus. The lectures honor the memory of a remarkable individual who amassed a sizable fortune throughout a highly unusual and successful career – first, as an engineer, then as a physician at the Mayo Clinic, and finally as a businessman in the oil and banking industries. Clark’s philanthropic activities have for many decades supported scholarly endeavors at a number of Texas colleges and universities, including the Clark Summer Research Program and the Clark Presidential Scholarship at UT Dallas.