April 19, 2012 — The 20th annual "Last Lecture" Series at the University of Virginia will feature Dr. Sharon Hostler and English professor Michael Suarez speaking April 25 at 7 p.m. in the Newcomb Hall Ballroom, with a reception following. Admission is free.

U.Va.'s Resident Staff program, which organizes the event, invites distinguished professors each year to give a lecture as if it were their last chance to pass on knowledge and wisdom to students. The content of the lectures ranges from emotional to entertaining, but they are often moving and inspiring.

Hostler, who won the 2008 Thomas Jefferson Award, was the first woman to hold an endowed chair in the School of Medicine – the McLemore Birdsong Professor of Pediatrics. She serves as U.Va. vice provost for faculty development, as well as senior associate dean of the Medical School. She joined the faculty in 1970.

Suarez, University Professor of English since 2009, directs the Rare Book School and is honorary curator in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. A Jesuit priest, he holds four master's degrees – two each in English and theology – and a doctorate in English from Oxford University.

— by Anne Bromley