The man who helped put the human genome on the map is slated to give the keynote address next week at the university's opening convocation.

J. Craig Venter, the founder of Celera Genomics, challenged the government sponsored Human Genome Project to map the human genome.

Celera published the complete human genome sequence on February 18, 2001 in the journal Science. Venter was also named a runner up in Time magazine's 2000 Person of the Year.

Convocation will be held in Wait Chapel on Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.

Mark Wright, a spokesman for the Bowman Gray School of Medicine, spoke highly of Venter.

"He's a man who is ahead of his time and has been a real leader in an area that will be a big part of the future," Wright said.

Venter left Celera in January 2002 in order to start the Institute for Biological Energy, which is dedicated to researching microbes that would produce energy while contributing to the cleansing of the environment.

Richard H. Dean, President and Chief Executive Officer of University Health Sciences, said he thinks Venter will be a pertinent speaker.

"Craig Venter is one of the most dynamic contributors to medical science today," Dean said. "He's a perfect speaker to help us set the tone for celebrating the medical school's Centennial."

Other events at convocation include the presentation of the Marcellus E. Waddill Excellence in Teaching Awards to two Wake Forest alumni by President Thomas K. Hearn, Jr. The ,000 awards honor teaching excellence in a primary and secondary school.