Jill Bolte Taylor, Brain Scientist, Stroke Survivor, to Speak at U of A

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Jill Bolte Taylor.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Jill Bolte Taylor, best-selling author of My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, will speak at the University of Arkansas as the first in the fall semester’s student Distinguished Lecture Series.

Her lecture is titled “How to Get Your Brain to Do What You Want.”

Taylor will speak at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, in the Hillside Auditorium. The lecture is free and no tickets are required, but seating is limited. Overflow seating will be available in the second auditorium with a video link for the audience.

Copies of My Stroke of Insight will be sold at the event, and there will be a book-signing after the lecture.

Taylor was a highly regarded brain researcher and advocate for the mentally ill in 1996 when she experienced a rare form of stroke on the left side of her brain, leaving her unable to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. It took eight years for Taylor to completely recover all of her physical functions and thinking ability.

However, her training and knowledge of how the brain works made her uniquely able to analyze and learn from what she went through. Her “stroke of insight” started her on a mission to help others experience the world more fully, using both sides of their brain.

In 2008, Taylor gave a presentation at the TED Conference that went viral through the Internet, making her world famous virtually overnight. That year she was listed as one of TIME magazine's “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

Taylor is currently working with the Hawn Foundation on their Mind-Up program, which teaches children about the neurocircuitry of the human brain involved with reactivity, meditation, mindfulness and cognitive accountability.

Taylor created the not-for-profit organization Jill Bolte Taylor BRAINS, which is dedicated to providing educational services and promoting programs related to the advancement of brain awareness, appreciation, exploration, education, injury prevention, neurological recovery, and the value of movement on mental and physical health, as well as other activities that support this purpose.

About Distinguished Lecture Series: The Distinguished Lecture Series is a student-sponsored program. Speakers are chosen by a committee of students, faculty and staff, and the events are funded by a student-approved fee, appropriated by the Programs Allocation Board.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.