Lyon College to Host Vatican Observatory Director

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Location: Lyon College
City: Batesville
Contact: Carol Langston
Phone: (870) 307-7075

In anticipation of next year's total solar eclipse, Lyon College will host Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, director of the Vatican Observatory, for a presentation titled "Science, Religion, and the Art of Storytelling." The event will take place Thursday, March 9, at 4 p.m. in the Nucor Auditorium at the Business and Economics building on the Lyon College campus at 2300 Highland Rd. in Batesville. Brother Consolmagno will discuss why "stories are fundamental to our understanding of religion; when being a good storyteller is essential in doing science; and how the way we tell these stories influences how we think about the big ideas" (the meaning of life, our faith). 

Consolgmano's research explores connections between meteorites, asteroids and the evolution of small solar system bodies. A native a Detroit, Michigan, Consolmagno earned undergraduate and master's degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in planetary science from the University of Arizona. He participated in postdoctoral research at Harvard and MIT, served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Kenya and taught university physics prior to entering the Jesuits in 1989. After being at the Vatican observatory since 1993, Pope Francis appointed him as director of the observatory in 2015. For more information about the presentation, please contact Dr. Barry Gehm at Barry.Gehm@lyon.edu.