Dr. John Ratey, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry from Harvard Medical School, will speak about his research on the relation between exercise, nutrition, brain function and education in 150 Columbia at 7 p.m tonight , promoting recent efforts of the Healthy Campus Initiative.
Ratey has authored or co-authored eight books on subjects related to disorders of the mind and has written three books specifically about Attention Deficit Disorder.
Anne Summers,  the founder and director of Healthy In Oregon — a statewide community health non-profit organization —  said she is excited to help bring Ratey to campus.
“Dr. Ratey is a major ‘rock star’ on his own Harvard Medical School campus, and we are really fortunate to have him,” Summers said. “Wait ’til you hear what he’s about and what he’s coming to share. It’s amazing we didn’t all know this a hundred years ago.”
Healthy In Oregon focuses on making communities healthier, Summers said, in order to make “being healthy … easily accomplished and the norm rather than the exception.”
Summers and the other groups involved — University of Oregon Big Ideas selection committee  and the Healthy Campus Initiative — worked together in creating the event, but Summers has had extended contact with Ratey in the past few years while creating the organization.
“When I told him (about the group), we’ve been in contact ever since,” Summers said. “He is a hero of mine.”
Ratey’s presentation will focus on his research into wellness and education, but Summers said it’s going to effectively be about the impact of exercise and play on academic performance.
The Healthy Campus Initiative drew attention earlier this year when ASUO President Amelie Rousseau advocated for a campus-wide smoking ban, a major component within the initiative. The tobacco ban was scheduled for fall 2012 at a press conference on Nov. 17, in addition to the announcement that the initiative would be receiving $1 million from PacificSource Health Plans.
Summers said this event could introduce the ideas of mind and body health to reshape the groups.
“This could very well take it in a different direction (through) the mention of the brain,” Summers said.
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