STILLPOINT Archive: last updated 05/30/2012
Beginning in November 2012, Gordon College will partner with the John Templeton Foundation to present, annually, the Herrmann Lectures on Science and Faith. The series, which enables world-class scientists to explore and present new research, honors the pioneering work of Dr. Robert Herrmann, a chemistry scholar who taught at Gordon College for 14 years and addressed the “Big Questions” surrounding science and religion throughout his career.
Dr. Herrmann taught medical school biochemistry for 22 years; first at Boston University and later at Oral Roberts University. In 1981 he became executive director of the American Scientific Affiliation, a 2,200-member society of Christians interested in integrating Christian faith and science. There he met member Sir John Templeton, with whom he collaborated in writing several books, including The God Who Would Be Known and Is God the Only Reality? In 1998 he wrote Sir John’s biography.
Dr. Herrmann is a founding member of the John Templeton Foundation, and forged a strong partnership with Templeton that enabled numerous groundbreaking events, networks, programs and publications that invited strategic thinkers to explore the relationship between science and faith. “It is our hope that the Herrmann Lectures on Faith and Science will create an opportunity to galvanize individuals,” said Dan Russ, dean of academics at Gordon College.
The first guest lecturer (November 2012), Walter R. Thorson, is a professor of theoretical chemistry at the University of Alberta and an adjunct professor of the philosophy of science at Regent College in Vancouver. Thorson was a research fellow at the National Science Foundation at Harvard University.
The following year’s lecturer, Owen Gingerich, is professor emeritus of astronomy and of the history of science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
In 2014 Alister McGrath, the academic leader of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture, will be featured. Jennifer Wiseman, Senior Project Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, will be the lecturer in 2015.
www.gordon.edu/herrmannlectures
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