‘House calls at the edge of the mind’

Oliver Sacks, author of the best sellers “Awakenings” and “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” will address the 2001 Chancellor’s Convocation at the Kohl Center Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m.

Hosted by Chancellor John Wiley, the event is an official welcome to the university for new students, though all students, faculty, staff and the general public are invited to attend the free event. No tickets are required.

“Sacks’ participation in the convocation will provide our students with a provocative start to an exciting year at UW–Madison,” Wiley says. “His work goes straight to the heart of the human condition and will raise questions that all of us should consider.”

Sacks studies the link between the body and the mind and celebrates the humanity and creativity of the human spirit. A world-renowned neurologist and humanist, he has been described as a physician who makes house calls at the edge of the mind. His case histories, studies of life struggling against adversity, are told with compassion and care. His books urge readers to look at the familiar with new eyes and treasure the little things we often take for granted.

In 1966, Sacks encountered survivors of the great epidemic of sleeping sickness, which had killed millions in the 1920s. Administering the new drug L-DOPA, he saw these patients – frozen for decades – awaken. His best-selling book about their experiences, “Awakenings,” inspired a film starring Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams.

“The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” brought Sacks’ work even greater public attention with heartbreaking and inspiring tales of patients with perceptions remarkably altered by various neurological conditions.

Later this fall, Sacks will publish “Uncle Tungsten: Memories of A Chemical Boyhood,” in which he reveals his lifelong scientific curiosity.

While at UW–Madison, Sacks will carry the title of Chazen Fellow. Campus visits by extraordinary individuals such as Sacks, called Chazen Fellows, are made possible through the generosity of UW alumni Jerome A. and Simona A. Chazen. The Chazen Fellows program is designed to enrich undergraduate learning by hosting individuals of outstanding accomplishment. Chazen Fellows have included three Nobel laureates, novelist Toni Morrison, human rights/anti-genocide champion Elie Wiesel, former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and primate behaviorist Jane Goodall.

In addition to addressing the convocation, Sacks will meet with Medical Scholars, undergraduate students from Wisconsin who are preparing for Medical School. Sacks will also meet with students from the Bradley Learning Community, a dynamic living-learning experience for first-year students.

A book signing with Sacks, coordinated by the University Book Store, will follow the convocation and free Babcock ice cream will be served.