Alexander Astin, professor and director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, will launch a series of talks about the future of higher education with a public lecture on campus Tuesday, Jan. 24. His research and writing interests focus on student development, values, educational policy and reform in higher education. His talk, titled "Assessment and Evaluation in the Research University," begins at 4 p.m. in the University Club. The Chancellor's Forum on the Future lecture series also will sponsor three other guest lecturers in February and April -- Robert Zemsky, director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania; Walter Massey, UC provost and senior vice president for academic affairs; and C. Peter Magrath, president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.