Plenary Lecturers

Henry Schaeffer III, Alvin Plantinga, Ian Hutchinson, Ard Louis , Don York ,

Pat Reiff , John Suppe, Pattle Pun , Cal DeWitt , Alan Padgett

Saturday Presenters

C. Donald Smedley, Ben Ruddell , John Ferrer, Jeffry Davis

About the Organizers

John Mulholland, Jeff Hammond

picture of Henry F. Schaeffer IIIHenry F. Schaeffer III (webpage) received his B.S. degree in chemical physics from the MIT and Ph.D. degree in chemical physics from Stanford. For 18 years he served as a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and is currently Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Computational Chemistry at the University of Georgia. He has authored more than 1000 scientific publications, the majority appearing in the Journal of Chemical Physics or the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and is one of the most highly cited scientists in the world.

His work on molecular quantum mechanics (specifically the geometry of methylene) in the 1970's caused a fundamental shift in the role of computers in the chemical sciences.

Professor Schaeffer gave the New College Lectures at the University of New South Wales, Australia, in 2004, "Scientists and their Gods", and "The Big Bang, Stephen Hawking, and God".

Other resources by Professor Schaeffer:

picture of Alvin PlantingaAlvin Plantinga (webpage) is the John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and has given considerable attention to the sciences, scientists, and their methods. In particular, he has given thought to how a scientific method, methodological naturalism, has grown into an overarching philosophy and become philosophical or ontological naturalism. One can get a solid introduction to his thought on these matters by listening to the following lecture Faith and Science, and by reading the paper Methodological Naturalism.

Papers and resources by Professor Plantinga:

picture of Ian HutchinsonIan Hutchinson (webpage) is Professor and Head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. His primary research interest is the magnetic confinement of plasmas: seeking to enable fusion reactions, the energy source of the stars, to be used for practical energy production.He and his MIT team designed, built and operate the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, an experiment whose plasmas, with temperatures reaching beyond 50 million degrees Celsius, are prototypical of a future fusion reactor.

He is the author of the key text on plasma measurements: Principles of Plasma Diagnostics, now in its second edition. Dr. Hutchinson has written and spoken widely on the subject of science and Christianity, in academic, conference, and congregational contexts. He has been actively involved in Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, serving as Dean of the natural sciences track of "Following Christ," a national IVCF conference for faculty and graduate students. He is a fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation, the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics, and founded "The Faith of Great Scientists" seminar at MIT.

Papers and resources by Professor Hutchinson:

picture of Ard LouisArd Louis (webpage) is a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, where he leads an interdisciplinary research group studying problems on the border between physics, chemistry, and biology. He has been a fellow at Hughes Hall, one of the constituent colleges of Cambridge University, since 1998, and is director of studies in Natural Sciences.

His current research interests include evolutionary "negative design" and the crystallisation of proteins, "positive design" and self assembly in biological systems, the "designability" of protein sequences and protein folding, the topology of sequence space, the evolution of evolvability, the effect of fluctuations on the efficiency of nano-machines, the transport of proteins through the nuclear pore complex, the combined effect of Brownian and hydrodynamic fluctuations on colloidal suspensions, nano-particle stabilisation of colloidal suspensions, formal aspects of coarse-graining in statistical mechanics.

Ard is the International Secretary for Christians in Science, an associate of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion and on the European board of advisors for the John Templeton Foundation.

He is a member of the Cambridge Templeton Consortium for the Emergence of Biological Complexity, which is running a $3 million request for proposals, and is jointly responsible for the 'biochemistry and fine-tuning' programme. He regularly speaks on science/faith issues (in the USA for example at Urbana 2000 and Urbana 2003).

Ard was born in the Netherlands, but raised in Gabon, central Africa, and maintains an active interest in international students and development issues. He is a faculty advisor for the Christian Graduate Society in
Cambridge, and is actively involved in raising the profile of graduate student ministries across the UK, most
recently in partnership with Friends International. He is also on the board of Arca Associates, an international development organisation.

picture of Don YorkDon York  (webpage) (profile) is Horace B. Horton Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago and a member of the Enrico Fermi Institute.  An observational cosmologist, he has focused much of his research on the gas and dust between galaxies for the clues they provide to the formation and evolution of the universe. He was the founding director of the Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, serving for fourteen years, and of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, one of the most ambitious collaborative projects ever undertaken by astronomers.

He was Harlow Shapley Lecturer of the American Astronomical Society, lecturing at small colleges across America on cosmology and on science and religion. He is the author of some 330 scientific papers.  Professor York is founding director of the Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, and of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. He is also the founder and co-director of a project to create a sustainable technology culture in 26 inner city Chicago schools, known as the Chicago Public Schools/University of Chicago Internet Project (CUIP). He is on the Board of Advisors at the Templeton Foundation.

picture of Patricia ReiffPatricia H. Reiff (webpage) is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the Rice Space Institute at Rice University. Her research focuses on space plasma physics, mostly in the area of magnetospheric physics. Her research includes study of the aurora borealis, solar wind-magnetosphere coupling (including solar wind control of magnetospheric and ionospheric convection), and magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling.

She is a Co-I on the "IMAGE" magnetospheric imaging mission (launched March, 2000), Jim Burch, SWRI, P.I. She was the first person to propose radio sounding of the magnetosphere, which that spacecraft includes as a key instrument. She is a Co-Investigator on two missions which are part of the ISTP (International Solar-Terrestrial Research Program). She is a Co-I on the Magnetic Fields Experiment , (Chris Russell , P.I.) of the "Polar" spacecraft (successfully launched February 24, 1996!) and a Co-I on the "Peace" plasma instrument (begun by the late Alan Johnstone of Mullard Space Science Lab) on the ESA Cluster 24-spacecraft suite which was launched in July and August 2000. She is instrumental in bringing real-time WIND data and "Space Weather" information to the public.

She is PI for a major project which has developed an off-ramp for the information highway by "Creating the Public Connection" , bringing real-time earth and space science data to museums and schools (originalloy sponsored by NASA's Digital Library Technology Program), and now sponsored by the IMAGE program and the NASA Office of Earth Science. Nearly a million people have interacted with her exhibits and planetarium shows at the Houston Museum of Natural Science , and another half-million with her web sites. She has also been quite involved in other public education activities, including being director for four years for teacher education projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Eisenhower Foundation, in collaboration with Dr. Carolyn Sumners of the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS). She has guided many scientific tours, including a total solar eclipse trips to Peru, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Black Sea, and an upcoming trip to Madagascar in 2001.

She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union , where she serves in the SPA Public Education Committee . She is the Rice University representative and Vice Chair of the Council of Institutions of the USRA - the Universities Space Research Association. She is presently serving on advisory committees for NASA, NCAR, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and has served NAS/NRC and AAU.

(This was taken from Professor Reiff's homepage).

picture of John SuppeJohn Suppe (webpage) is Blair Professor of Geology at Princeton.  He attended Yale University for graduate school and earned a Ph.D. in 1969 in structural geology, where he was a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Los Angeles from 1969 to 1971. He joined the faculty at Princeton University, New Jersey, in 1971, and has remained there ever since. Suppe served as department chair from 1991 to 1994 and was named Blair Professor of geology in 1998. During his time at Princeton, Suppe was a visiting professor at National Taiwan University, California Institute of Technology, University of Barcelona, Spain, and Nanjing University, China.

He is an author or editor of five books and professional volumes. One of these books is a very successful textbook entitled, Principles of Structural Geology. Suppe's work has been recognized by the profession through numerous honors and awards. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He received an unprecedented two Best Paper Awards from the Structural Geology and Tectonics Division of Geological Society of America. He was a Guggenheim Fellow and a Guest Investigator for the NASA Magellan mission to Venus.

Adapted from: "Suppe, John E" in A to Z of Earth Scientists.

Papers and resources by Professor Suppe:

picture of Pattle PunPattle Pun (webpage) is has been Professor of Molecular Biology at Wheaton College since 1973. Pattle Pun's research, publications and professional experience focus on microbial and molecular genetics, using primarily bacterial systems. He has recently devoted more time to the studies of genomics. He is also interested in the integration of the Christian faith with professions, having the opportunities to address these issues in numerous occasions in the States and abroad. He is actively involved in Sunday School teaching as well as outreach to international students.

He has written extensively on evolution and genetic engineering from a theistic perspective. He has written a book on progressive creationism entitled Evolution: Nature and Scripture in Conflict?, which has been published in English and Chinese.

picture of Cal DeWittCal DeWitt (webpage) is Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and President Emeritus of the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies. He was recently awarded the prestigious National Wildlife Federation "Connie Award" recognizing him as "a world-class conservationist who has made a huge difference with his life in an arena that needs his message" and for his "thirty years of promoting sound environmental practices and for his work with Au Sable Institute, which partners with 60 Christian colleges and universities in North America and others in India and east Africa."

DeWitt is widely respected as a leading light in the movement among evangelicals toward environmental awareness and activism. He is demonstrating the possibilities and the power of faith-based communities to shape conservation policies and restore the environment. His writings range from technical to popular, from theoretical to practical and include over 130 publications in the fields of environmental physiology, environmental stewardship, wetlands science and stewardship, environmental and land ethics, religion and ecology, environmental degradations, environmental praxis, population and ecology, hunger and food production, and environmental science and theology.

Papers and resources by Professor DeWitt:

picture of Alan PadgettAlan Padgett (webpage) is Professor of Systematic Theology at Luther Seminary and an ordained United Methodist. He is currently on sabbatical at the Center for Philosophy of Religion, University of Notre Dame, as the Frederick Crosson Fellow.

Padgett grew up in California, and earned a bachelor of arts degree with honors from Vanguard University, Costa Mesa, Calif., in 1977. Following a call to the ministry, he graduated from Drew University, Madison, N.J., with a masters of divinity in 1981. In 1990, he received his doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Oxford in England. Padgett’s professional experience also includes serving as pastor in New Jersey and California in the 1980s.

Padgett is most particularly interested in Christian systematic theology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of science, and the relationship between religion and science. His most recent books include:

Padgett has also given numerous lectures in Europe, China and North America, and published over seventy academic articles and book chapters. Some of his articles can be read online at his personal web page:

C. Donald Smedley (Rivendell Institute)

Ben Ruddell (UIUC Hydrology Group) is currently a graduate student of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His professional interests include water resources engineering, sustainable natural resources and ecosystem management, and environmental policy and law. He is a native of Rockford, Michigan and a graduate of Calvin College.

John Ferrer (John's Blog) is currently studying at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary towards his Th.M. and eventually a Ph.D.  He holds an M.Div. in apologetics from Southern Evangelical Seminary and a B.A. in religion and theatre from Charleston Southern University.  He served as a pastor at North Rock Hill Church in Rock Hill, SC from 2002 to 2006.  He is a member of the Evangelical Philosopher's Society, the Society of Christian Philosophers, the Society of Christian Apologetics and the Evangelical Theological Society.

Jeffry Davis (Home Page) is Associate Professor of English and the Director of the Writing Center and of Interdisciplinary Studies at Wheaton College. He received his Ph.D from the University of Illinois, Chicago in 1998, his M.A. from Northern Illinois University and his B.A. from Wheaton College.

John Mulholland  currently works in the Law Library at the University of Chicago and is a member of Holy Trinity Church.

picture of Jeff HammondJeff Hammond is a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry at the University of Chicago where he attempts to understand many-body quantum mechanics using computers under the supervision of Professor David Mazziotti (group page).  He is currently a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellow and a Harvey Fellow.  Last year at Redemption of Reason, Jeff presented a paper entitled, "Overlapping the Magisteria: Challenges for Christians in the Sciencess."  He is a member of Holy Trinity Church.

A native of Seattle, WA, Jeff  received a B.A. in mathematics and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Washington in 2003.  He served on short-term mission trips to the Dominican Republic and Benin in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

 

  
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