Dr. Kelly Brownell, Director of Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, will present a keynote address at the 33rd Annual Meeting and Dinner of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering on May 21, 2008 at the New Haven Lawn Club in New Haven, CT.

The event will be attended by over 250 members of the Academy, invited guests, and winners of 2008 statewide science competitions. The H. Joseph Gerber Medal of Excellence, created by the Academy and sponsored by Gerber Scientific, Inc., will be awarded to the two first place winners of the 2008 Connecticut Science Fair and the first place winner of the 2008 Connecticut Science Challenge.

In 2006, Time magazine listed Kelly Brownell, Ph.D., among “The World’s 100 Most Influential People” in its special Time 100 issue featuring those “… whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world.” In addition to directing the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Dr. Brownell serves at Yale as Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and as a professor in the Department of Psychology.

Dr. Brownell was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine in 2006 and served as President of several national organizations, including the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, and the Division of Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association. He has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the James McKeen Cattell Award from the New York Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Brownell has advised members of congress, governors, world health and nutrition organizations, and media leaders on issues of nutrition, obesity, and public policy. He has published 14 books and more than 300 scientific articles and chapters. One book received the Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Book from the American Library Association, and his paper on “Understanding and Preventing Relapse” published in the American Psychologist was listed as one of the most frequently cited papers in psychology.

Dr. Kelly Brownell is a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.