Former Philip Morris employee Victor DeNoble is coming to Marquette Wednesday to speak on the dangers of smoking in a lecture that targets both smokers and non-smokers.

After he made an "incredible" discovery within Philip Morris, the company terminated his employment, said Colleen Peck, clinical health educator for the Center for Health Education & Promotion.

He will speak at 11:30 a.m. in the Henke Lounge and again at 7 p.m. in the Weasler Auditorium.

Details regarding DeNoble's discovery will be unveiled at the evening lecture.

The lecture is free and open to the public, Peck said.

"The Insider," a 1999 movie starring Al Pacino, was based on the experiences of DeNoble and fellow scientist Jeffrey Wigand at Philip Morris, Peck said.

His morning presentation will center around tobacco addiction and marketing tactics used by tobacco industries to target college students, she said.

"Students should come because it will be a riveting performance," she said. "Even if you're a smoker, you won't take offense. Everyone will be able to take something away from this."

The lecture is part of a grant-funded project entitled "Holy Smokes: Risk Reduction," which was founded to increase awareness about smoking on campus and to help students quit smoking, she said.

Marquette received the grant through the City of Milwaukee Health Department.

The rate of tobacco use at Marquette is high when compared to other colleges and universities in Wisconsin, Peck said. She declined to reveal exact figures.

Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable disease and illness, and everyone can help in addressing the issue, she said.

"We are finding that we need to be proactive about having resources for students to quit and also to become more aggressive in terms of helping students say no to smoking," she said. "We want students to be comfortable about not starting to smoke."

Last year, advertising students were asked to devise a campaign to convince students to quit smoking.

Erin Murray and Benjamin Wydra, both seniors in the College of Communication, came up with the winning campaign.

"Stop thinking why, start thinking why not," is their slogan, said Murray, who is involved with the "Holy Smokes" campaign.

The campaign lists common excuses people give for continuing smoking, including "I only smoke a couple a day" and "I'm not addicted" Murray said.

It tells smokers to stop giving excuses and start thinking about quitting smoking, she said.

"We decided to poke fun at smokers giving stupid excuses for continuing to smoke," Wydra said.

Posters from the campaign will soon be seen around campus, Peck said.

Peck said students who are thinking about quitting smoking are encouraged to make an appointment with Student Health Services.

Student Health Services can provide students interested in quitting smoking with many options, Peck said.

"Not everyone is on the same level for quitting smoking," she said. "There are different options for different behavioral levels."