Congratulations, Gordon!

I love Gordon College. I recently found a blog that keeps track of all the interesting projects the faculty, students and alumni are engaged in, from sculpture to service. Reading these posts always makes me fond of the place. But today I’m particularly proud of my alma matter. Yesterday was the dedication of the Ken Olsen Science Center at Gordon—a facility that has been a long time coming, and was desperately needed. I explored the building when I visited campus this summer and was quite impressed. I’m so pleased that my friend, Dr. Dorothy Boorse, will have such a great place to conduct her biology labs and research, and that all my old professors in the psychology department will have the teaching and experimental facilities they deserve.

But I’m also proud because Francis Collins spoke at the Science Center dedication. Francis Collins, the director of the Human Genome Project, has been someone that I’ve admired ever since I read this interview in National Geographic in which Collins is interviewed by an atheist. Collins is just so ridiculously smart and articulate and gracious. Take, for example, the start of his answer to a question referring to the idea of "God the semi-competent." Collins says “That's delightful—and probably blasphemous! An alternative is the notion…” Somehow in this succinct answer he manages to convey his sense of humor combined with unapologetic disagreement, which he then follows by offering of the Christian perspective for the questioner’s inspection. What a great model for apologetics! I also uncovered an interview where he pretty much kicks butt on NPR--no easy feat! Best of all, he’s a great example of a Christian taking science seriously and doing it well—he’s at the top of his field by any measure.

All that to say that I was thrilled to hear that Collins was speaking at the dedication at Gordon. If I were living anywhere close by, you can bet I would have been there like a teen girl at a Jonas Brothers concert (well, maybe not quite so hysterical) to hear him speak on Genomics and the Human Condition in person! As it was, I had to content myself with the podcast of the three talks he gave (search for Gordon College in the iTunes Store, or click here). Now that I’m done with those, I need to get me a copy of his autobiography: Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. Good stuff! Way to go, Gordon!