John Urschel, Charles Yang, and Peter Dugan to shine at LSC Genius Gala 8
LSC’s annual Genius Gala is coming up on May 13! Click here for tickets.
At this incredible event, we’ll honor four visionary women and men of science: Martine Rothblatt, Chris Messina, and Sally and Bennett Shaywitz.
Our Genius Award honorees aren’t the only overachievers in the room, though. We’ll also be joined by special guests, supporters, and entertainers who make the evening unforgettable and are geniuses in their own right.
Here are three more geniuses who will join our celebration on May 13:
John Urschel (Former Baltimore Ravens Center and Guard, Mathematician, MIT Doctoral Student, and Author)
John Urschel is not your typical NFL player. The former all-conference offensive lineman at Penn State received the Campbell Trophy, given to college football’s top scholar-athlete and widely known as the “Academic Heisman.” He also received the James E. Sullivan Award, presented to the nation’s top amateur athlete, joining Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow on the very short list of college football players to win the prestigious honor. At this year’s Genius Gala he is signing copies of his new book, Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football,, co-written with Louisa Thomas, which explores his simultaneous journeys as an elite athlete and an elite mathematician.
Urschel earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics after three years, a master’s degree in mathematics after four years, and another master’s degree in math education after five years, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA, teaching an undergraduate calculus course, and publishing a 32-page paper he authored in a prestigious scientific journal. He retired from the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens after three successful seasons and is now pursuing his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Charles Yang (Violinist)
Recipient of the 2018 Leonard Bernstein Award and described by The Boston Globe as one who "plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star," Juilliard graduate Charles Yangbegan his violin studies with his mother in Austin, Texas, and has since studied with world-renowned pedagogues Kurt Sassmanshaus, Paul Kantor, Brian Lewis, and Glenn Dicterow. He has performed in the United States, Europe, Brazil, Russia, China, and Taiwan, and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors.
The Texas Observer noted: “Mr. Yang is a true crossover artist, a pioneer who can hop between classical and popular music and bring fresh ideas to fans of both genres. Rather than maintaining an insular focus and simply assuming that an audience for classical music will always exist, he wants to actively create that audience, to persuade and seduce others into enjoying a type of music as passionately as he does.”
Peter Dugan (Pianist)
Pianist Peter Dugan’s 2017 debut solo performances with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony were described by The Los Angeles Times as “stunning” and by The San Francisco Chronicle as “fearlessly athletic.” He has appeared as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North America and abroad. Prizing versatility as the key to the future of classical music, Mr. Dugan is equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms.
A sought-after crossover artist, Dugan has performed in duos and trios with artists ranging from Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell to Jesse Colin Young and Glenn Close. The Wall Street Journal described Dugan’s collaboration with violinist Charles Yang as a “classical-meets-rock star duo.”
Join us at the 8th Annual Genius Gala, Monday, May 13 at 6:00 pm to learn more about our nonprofit institution’s educational programs and the geniuses who inspire us.
