The lecture will be titled "Physical Activity and Fitness: Contributions to Long Life and High Function." Sponsored by the UB School of Health Related Professions, it will be free and open to the public.

The Cooper Institute is the research arm of the Cooper Aerobics Center, founded in 1970 by Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., a former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and one of the earliest proponents of aerobic conditioning as the key to physical fitness. His book, "Aerobics," made the concept a household word.

Blair was named director of epidemiology at the Cooper Institute in 1980 while he was a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. He joined the Cooper Institute full-time in 1984. He remains an adjunct professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of South Carolina, and is also adjunct professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center's School of Public Health.

A graduate of Kansas Wesleyan University, Blair holds master's and doctoral degrees in physical education from Indiana University, and spent two years at Stanford University School of Medicine as a post-doctoral scholar in preventive cardiology.

He is associate editor of American Journal of Health Promotion and American Journal of Epidemiology, and serves on the editorial boards of six additional journals. A prolific writer, he has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific articles.

Blair is past president and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, and a fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, the Council on Epidemiology of the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education.

Blair has received several awards from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, was named to the 1985 Runner's World All Star Team, and is listed in "Who's Who in America."