MEMBERS OF THE DPDC (Distinguished Program Development Committee)
Professor Werner Arber
Microbiologist. Born in Gränichen (Switzerland), June 3, 1929. Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1978, member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. From 1959 to 1970, teacher of Molecular Genetics at the University of Geneva. From 1971, teacher of Microbiology at the University of Basel. Member of the Biozentrum, Microbiology division, University of Basel, Switzerland.
Fr. George V. Coyne, S.J.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland (USA), January 19, 1933. Member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences; researcher and professor of Astronomy. From 1978 to 2006, director of the Vatican Observatory at Castelgandolfo; particularly interested in the fields of Philosophy and Scientific History, in 1983 he created the series of publications, “Studi Galileian”.
Professor Jean-Michel Dercourt
Born in France, March 11, 1935, married with 4 children. Geologist specializing in mountainous sedimentary formations. Ongoing Secretary of the Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. Until 2004, professor at the University of Paris VI: Pierre et Marie Curie. He is the author of several specialized books.
Rev. Professor Michael Heller
Polish priest, born in Tarnów (Poland), March 12, 1936. Researcher and professor of Theoretical Physics, Relativistic Cosmology and the Philosophy of Science. He is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, an adjunct scholar of the Vatican Observatory, teacher of philosophy at the Pontifical Academy of Theology at Krakow and of the Philosophy of Science and Logic at the Theological Institute at Tarnów. He is the author of more than 500 articles and 30 books.
Professor Xavier LePichon
Born in Quinhon (France), June 18, 1937. Chairman and professor of Geodynamics at the Collège de France. Associate member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) and author of the Foundational Model for Plate Tectonics (1968).
Professor Dominique Lambert
Born in 1960. Professor of the Philosophy of Science and Theoretical Physics (Cosmology) at the Notre Dame de la Paix University, Belgium.
Sir John Polkinghorne
Born in Weston-super-Mare (England), October 16, 1930. Professor and researcher of Particle Physics at University of Cambridge, he became an Anglican priest in 1979 and is considered today to be one of the most published writers on the relationship between Science and Faith. Recipient of the Templeton Prize in 2002, he is the founding president of the International Society for Science and Religion.
Professor Robert John Russell
Born in Los Angeles, California (USA), August 23, 1946. Physicist, pastor, married with two children. Founder of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences and, together with George Coyne, organizer of a series of conferences (fundamental to the STOQ project) on Science and Theology.
Professor William Shea
Born in Quebec (Canada) in 1937. Married with five children. Galileo Professor of the History of Science, University of Padua, Italy. Famed scientific historian and author of nearly 30 books specializing in Galileo, the Galilean case and the dawn of modern science.
His Excellency, the Most Reverend Professor Józef M. Życiński
Born in Poland in 1948. Philosopher, theologian, Grand Chancellor of the Catholic University of Lublin (Poland). Named bishop of Tarnów in 1990 and archbishop of Lublin in 1997. Member of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Consultant for the Congregation for Catholic Education. Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, the Committee for Philosophical Studies, and the Committee on Evolutionary and Theoretical Biology at the National Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. Author of more than 300 articles and 40 books. In addition to his academic involvement in Poland, he also has taught at Berkeley, Oxford, Notre Dame (Indiana, USA), the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and the Catholic University of Australia in Sydney.
(†) Rev. Professor D. Mariano Artigas, 1938-2006
Professor of the Philosophy of Nature at the University of Navarre, Spain. Doctor of Physics and Philosophy, winner of the Templeton Prize, author of several significant works about the history and philosophy of science, an authority on the Galileo case.
(†) His Eminence, Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., 1918 - 2008
Born in Auburn, New York (USA), August 24, 1918, he was a theologian at Fordham University in New York. Was raised Presbyterian and then became an agnostic. In college, a gradual conversion began and he was accepted into the Catholic faith on November 26, 1940. He has been one of the most renowned theologians of the English language.
(†) Professor Peter Hodgson, 1928 - 2008
Born in London, UK, Professor emeritus of Nuclear Physics, faculty member of the Corpus Christi College at Oxford University. Author of 30 books and 300 articles dealing with research in Nuclear Physics, he've been an international figure in the science/religion debate.
