Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, is the Director of the Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Brother Consolmagno graduated from U of D Jesuit High School, earned undergraduate and masters' degrees from MIT, and a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1989, and has worked at the Vatican Observatory since 1993; his research explores connections between meteorites, asteroids, and the evolution of small solar system bodies. Along with more than 200 scientific publications, he is the author of popular books including “Turn Left at Orion” (with Dan Davis), and “Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?” (with Paul Mueller, SJ).  Pope Francis named Brother Consolmagno the Director of the Vatican Observatory in September 2015.

Brother Consolmagno will speak on the topic “Why Do We Do Look Up At The Heavens?”

Why did we go to the Moon? Why does the Vatican support an astronomical observatory? These questions mask a deeper question: why do individuals choose to spend their lives in pursuit of pure knowledge? The motivation behind our choices, both as individuals and as a society, controls the sorts of science that gets done… and how we teach that science in our schools. It determines the kinds of answers that are found to be satisfying. And ultimately, it affects the way we think about ourselves and our relationship with God.