Brother Guy Consolmagno, planetary scientist and director of the Vatican Observatory, will deliver BYU’s Summerhays Lecture on March 10, 2016. Consolmango’s lecture is entitled “Encountering God’s Personality in Creation.”
The Summerhays Lecture has become a BYU tradition since it was first organized in 2003. The lecture features a guest speaker who addresses the intersection between science and religion. This year’s event will take place on Thursday, March 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the Joseph Smith Building auditorium on BYU campus.
Consolmagno earned three degrees in planetary science: bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctoral degree from the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. After earning his doctoral degree, Consolmagno worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University and MIT. He also served in the United States Peace Corps in Kenya.
Consolmagno became a member of the Jesuit order, a male congregation of the Catholic church, in 1989. He worked at the Vatican Observatory in various capacities beginning in 1993 before being appointed as its director in September 2015 by Pope Francis. His expertise is in meteors and asteroids, and the International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after him in 2000.
The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical research facilities in the world, according to its website. It has research facilities near Rome, Italy, and in Arizona, U.S.A.
This event is open to the general public. Please arrive early as seating is limited.