The featured speaker at the SMU Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series on Thursday, March 1 will be author and food advocate Michael Pollan. He is the author of the bestsellers In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, which was named one of the 10 best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Pollan has been writing books and articles for over 25 years; his subjects are primarily about the places where the human and natural worlds collide, such as food, agriculture, gardens, drugs, and architecture. In 2003, he was appointed the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, and the director of the Knight Program in Science and Engineering.

The lecture will begin at 8:00 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium, but SMU students and area high school students can get an early glimpse of Pollin at the Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. However, there is limited seating, so interesting attendeees should arrive early.