Performances to highlight life of Marie Curie

Two performances of a drama about the struggles and triumphs of Marie Curie will take place at the University on March 25 and 26.

Curie is known for her discovery of radium and radioactivity, and for establishing the first successful radiation treatment of cancer through collaboration with the medical community. She opened the doors of science to women worldwide.

Manya, A Living History of Madame Marie Curie, is the story of Marie Curie from the political oppression of her childhood, to her scientific emergence and fame, the tragedy that forced her into single motherhood, and her further world prominence. It is presented by Susan Marie Frontczak.

The performances will take place at the Health Center’s Keller Auditorium on March 25, beginning at 5:30 p.m. and at the Nafe Katter Theatre on the Storrs Campus on March 26, at 7:30 p.m. There is no charge for admission. However, a minimum suggested donation of $5 per person is encouraged. Please register at www.manya.clas.uconn.edu for tickets.

Frontczak will also present a public seminar, Marie Curie, Her Life and Times, on March 26 at 3 p.m. at Konover Auditorium in the Dodd Center. Registration is not required.

The event is hosted by the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subcommittee of the Provost’s Commission on the Status of Women. It is funded by a variety of University sources, including the UConn Year of Science 2009 Committee.

The STEM subcommittee, chaired by Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Debra Kendall, is developing a distinguished lecture series for, and by, women as one mechanism for bringing successful role models to the University. The group is also working on an NSF Advance grant application to support and enhance the recruitment and retention of women faculty in STEM disciplines at the University.