POTSDAM -- "The Co-evolution of Humans with Machines" will be the topic of a talk by Paul Horn at Clarkson University on September 16 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Students Center Multipurpose Room.

Horn is a 1968 alumnus of Clarkson and distinguished scientist in residence and senior vice provost for research and New York University.

His talk is part of Clarkson's David A. Walsh ’67 Arts & Sciences Seminar Series, a weekly colloquium series supported by the School of Arts & Sciences Advisory Council especially through generous gifts from David A. Walsh ’67.

A number of well-known scientists and technologists are suggesting that we are on the verge of a “singularity," a transition in evolution from life as we know it to a post-biological future. They say the “human era” will be ended. The boldest of these “singularitarians” predict that the epoch will arrive in less than 30 years.

Horn was named New York University distinguished scientist in residence in 2007 and senior vice provost for research in 2009. Prior to his NYU position, he was senior vice president of the IBM Corporation and executive director of research. In his 28 years with IBM, Horn was a champion for translating technology-based research into marketplace opportunities.

Under his leadership IBM Research produced an unmatched string of technological breakthroughs, including the chess-playing supercomputer Deep Blue, the world's first copper chip, the giant magneto-resistive head (GMR), strained silicon, a discovery that allows chips to run up to 35 percent faster, and BlueGene, the world’s fastest supercomputer that brought computing leadership back to the United States.

Horn received his undergraduate degree from Clarkson University in 1968 and received his doctoral degree in physics from the University of Rochester in 1973. Prior to joining IBM in 1979, Horn was a professor of physics in the James Franck Institute and the Physics Department at the University of Chicago.