KINGSTON, R.I. — October 25, 2004 — Cyril Wecht, one of the nation’s most distinguished forensic pathologists, will speak on “controversial and complex cases- challenges for the forensic pathologist,” as part of the Forensic Science Seminar Series offered by the University of Rhode Island.

The discussion will take place on Friday, Oct. 29, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Room 124 of Pastore Hall on the Kingston campus. The lecture is free and open to the public; refreshments will be served prior to the start of the discussion.

Wecht, who is the coroner of Allegheny County, Pa., has performed more than 14,000 autopsies and has been consulted on an additional 30,000 cases. He has been featured on television programs to discuss controversial cases like the deaths of Elvis Presley and JonBenet Ramsey and the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy.

Not only is Wecht a medical doctor, but he is also a lawyer. In 2000, the Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law opened at the Duquesne University School of Law. With the purpose of seeking “social truth and justice through the application of scientific methods and legal principles,” it is the first forensic science program to be housed at a law school.

The author of more than 400 professional publications, Wecht sits on the editorial boards of more than 20 national and international medical-legal and forensic scientific journals. Certified by the American Board of Pathology, he is the former President of the American College of Legal Medicine and the American Academy of Forensic Science.

The Forensic Science Seminar Series is a semester-long program offered by the University of Rhode Island Forensic Science Partnership. The series, which is in its fifth year, lasts through Dec. 10.