CMU Lecture Series
Dr. Thomas A. Perry Faith & Science Lecture Series
Speaker: Brother Guy J. Consolmagno
Date: April 21, 2025
Bio: Br. Guy Consolmagno SJ was born in 1952 in Detroit, Michigan. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in 1974 and Master of Science in 1975 in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona in 1978. From 1978-80, he was a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at the Harvard College Observatory and from 1980-1983 continued as postdoc and lecturer at MIT.
In 1983, he left MIT to join the US Peace Corps, where he served for two years in Kenya teaching physics and astronomy. Upon his return to the US in 1985, he became an assistant professor of physics at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he taught until his entry into the Jesuit order in 1989. He took vows as a Jesuit brother in 1991, and studied philosophy and theology at Loyola University Chicago and physics at the University of Chicago before his assignment to the Vatican Observatory in 1993.
In spring 2000, he held the MacLean Chair for Visiting Jesuit Scholars at St. Joseph's University (Philadelphia), in 2006-2007 the Loyola Chair at Fordham University (New York), and in fall 2009 the Lanigan Chair in Science, Medicine, and Ethics at LeMoyne College (Syracuse). He has also been a visiting scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center and a visiting professor at Loyola College (Baltimore) and Loyola University (Chicago).
Br. Consolmagno has served on the governing boards of the Meteoritical Society; the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Division III, Planetary Systems Science (secretary, 2000 - present) and Commission 16, Moons and Planets (president, 2003-2006); and the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences (chair, 2006-2007). Since 2008, he has been a member of the IAU Working Group on Planetary System Nomenclature and the Mars Nomenclature Task Group; in 2015, he became chair of the Mars TG.
He has co-authored two astronomy books: Turn Left at Orion (with Dan M. Davis; Cambridge University Press, 1989) and Worlds Apart (with Martha W. Schaefer; Prentice Hall, 1993). He is the author or co-author of four books exploring faith and science issues, including The Way to the Dwelling of Light (U of Notre Dame Press, 1998); Brother Astronomer (McGraw Hill, 2000); God's Mechanics (Jossey-Bass, 2007), and Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? (With Paul Mueller, Image, 2014). He also edited The Heavens Proclaim (Vatican Observatory Publications, 2009). Since 2004, he has written a monthly column on astronomy for the British Catholic periodical, The Tablet.
About the lecture series: Thanks to a generous gift from the Rev. Garth Leigh, wishing to honor the memory of Dr. Thomas Perry, longtime chair of the CMC English Department, this lecture has been endowed at the Central Methodist University. Rev. Leigh sponosored a lecture series as a testament to the impact Perry had on generations of students at Central, encouraging them to think deeply, wrestle with greater questions, and challenge themselves to be the best citizens and scholars. The annual lecture will focus on the role that minister-scientists have played in the development of both religious traditions as well as scientific discoveries.
In addition to spending 20 years as chairman of the Department of English at Central Methodist College, Perry also served as chair of the Division of Literature and Languages and of the honors program. He sponsored Scribblers and Scrawlers, a club for aspiring creative writers, hosting and entertaining them monthly in his home. Perry is the late father of Tad Perry, current member of the board of trustees at CMU. Rev. Leigh served as a United Methodist Pastor for many years, and has worked as a freelance writer since his retirement from ministry in 2000. He currently lives in Kansas City, Mo. with his wife, Cheri.
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