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Mendel
Medal to honor the "father" of environmental ethics
By Maureen McKew
On Saturday evening, April 2, Dr. Holmes Rolston, III,
University Distinguished Professor and professor of philosophy at Colorado
State University, will become the thirty-fifth recipient of the Mendel
Medal.
The medal will be presented to Rolston at the annual
 dinner
honoring the memory of the Augustinian monk, Gregor Mendel, who is
considered to be father of the study of genetics. Earlier in the day,
Rolston will deliver a public lecture, titled “The Good Samaritan and His
Genes.” This lecture will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the Connelly Center Cinema.
The Rev. Kail C. Ellis, O.S.A., dean of the College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which sponsors the Mendel lecture, dinner and
medal, said: “Villanova University is both proud and
fortunate to be able to honor Dr. Holmes Rolston, III, as its Mendel Medal
recipient for 2005. Dr. Rolston, who is known as the Father of Environmental
Ethics, embodies the spirit of Mendel's concern for nature, scientific
inquiry, religious conviction, and the environment.”
Rolston was the Templeton Prize laureate in 2003 for
his work on the intrinsic value of nature and on the relationship between
science and religion. The award, which was presented by the Duke of
Edinburgh, is larger in monetary value than the Nobel Prize. Rolston donated
the proceeds to his alma mater, Davidson College, Davidson, N.C., to endow a
chair science and religion.
He is widely respected for his work in the dialogue
between science and religion, expecially in his reconciling of evolutionary
natural history and monotheism. His book, Science and Religion: A
Critical Survey (Random House, 1987) was a ground-breaking work. He also
is the author of Environmental Ethics: Duties to and Values in the
Natural World (Yale University Press, 1991), in which he presented his
theory of natural intrinsic value, Conserving Natural Value Columbia
University Press, 1994), and Genes, Genesis and God (Cambridge
University Press, 1999), which contains his 1997-98 Gifford Lectures,
delivered at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
After graduating from Davidson College with a degree
in physics and mathematics, Rolston earned a divinity degree from Union
Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., followed by a doctorate in theology
from the University of Edinburgh. Rolston also earned a master’s degree in
philosophy of science from the University of Pittsburgh.
He is an international lecturer on ethical issues
in wildlife, the environment and policy. In his travels, he likes to make
time to study the nature of wilderness of the area he is visiting. He is an
avid hiker, camper and explorer of the back country of Colorado, where he
teaches. |
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