Trotter Prize Winners to Explore Crossroads of Faith, Science

COLLEGE STATION -- Two prominent scientists -- one, the leader of the Human Genome Project, and the other, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist -- will visit the Texas A&M University campus this week to present their views of faith, science and society as part of the University's seventh annual Trotter Endowed Lecture Series.

As recipients of Texas A&M's 2008 Trotter Prize, Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Steven Weinberg, co-recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics and a professor of physics and astronomy at The University of Texas in Austin, will deliver a joint public lecture Thursday (March 20) at 7 p.m. in Rudder Theater. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception in Rudder Exhibit Hall.

Collins, a physician-geneticist and world-renowned scientist, works at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. In addition to overseeing the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium and its landmark effort to sequence the entire human DNA code, he has worked on methods of crossing large stretches of DNA to identify disease genes, coining the term "positional cloning." Although he has personally discovered some of the scientific evidence for the common descent of all living creatures, Collins also is a man of unshakable faith in God and scripture. In The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, which is based on his best-selling book, he will show that faith in God and science can be harmonious.

Weinberg, who holds the Josey Regental Chair in Science and is a member of both the physics and astronomy departments at Texas, is considered one of the world's preeminent theoretical physicists. His research on elementary particles and cosmology has been honored with many prestigious prizes and awards, none bigger than his Nobel Prize for contributions to the discovery of the neutral currents and the inferred existence of the Z boson. In Without God, Weinberg will describe how scientific advances have contributed to a widespread loss of belief in the existence of a Supreme Being and also address the subsequent problem: How is one to live without God?

"Once again, we have the enviable fortune of hosting two great scientists in what has become a strong tradition of excellent learning opportunities for our students, faculty, staff and the broader Brazos Valley community," said Dr. H. Joseph Newton, dean of the College of Science.

Collins, who earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Virginia and a doctorate in physical chemistry at Yale University, is a member of the National Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. His laboratories at the NIH and University of Michigan have pioneered the discovery of a number of important genes, including those responsible for cystic fibrosis, neurofibromatosis, Huntington's disease and, most recently, Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a dramatic form of premature aging. In addition to his scientific achievements, Collins is known for his continuing emphasis on the importance of ethical and legal issues in genetics. He has been a strong advocate for protecting the privacy of genetic information and has served as a national leader in efforts to prohibit gene-based insurance and employment discrimination.

Weinberg, who taught at Columbia, Berkeley, MIT and Harvard before coming to Texas in 1982, has earned a number of professional honors in addition to the Nobel Prize, including the National Medal of Science (1991) and American Philosophical Society's Benjamin Franklin Medal (2004). A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Britain's Royal Society, the Royal Irish Academy, the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has authored more than 300 articles and 10 books on elementary particle physics, cosmology and other subjects. Weinberg has served as a consultant at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, as president of the Philosophical Society of Texas and as a member of the Board of Editors of Daedalus magazine, the Council of Scholars of the Library of Congress, the JASON group of defense consultants and many other boards and committees. Educated at Cornell, Copenhagen and Princeton, he also holds honorary doctoral degrees from 16 other universities, including Chicago, Columbia, McGill, Padua, Salamanca and Yale.

The Trotter Prize and Endowed Lecture Series, presented by the College of Science in collaboration with The Dwight Look College of Engineering, seeks to illuminate connections between science and religion, often viewed in academia as non-overlapping if not rival world views. The series was established by Ide P. Trotter Jr. and Luella H. Trotter with a matching contribution from ExxonMobil Corp. in 2001 to honor Ide P. Trotter Sr., former dean of Texas A&M University's Graduate School, and to recognize pioneering contributions to the understanding of the role of information, complexity and inference in illuminating the mechanisms and wonder of nature.

For more information on the event, contact Chelsea Phillips in the College of Science Dean's Office at (979) 845-9642 or cphillips@science.tamu.edu.

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Contact: Shana K. Hutchins, (979) 862-1237 or shutchins@science.tamu.edu