Dr. Benjamin T. Chu Distinguished Lecture

Dr. Francis Collins is 2026's Chu Distinguished Lecturer

Lecture: "The Laboratory and the Cathedral: Both Can Be Places of Worship"

On April 17, 2026, St. Norbert College proudly welcomed 2026 Chu Lecture Speaker, Dr. Francis Collins, an internationally renowned physician-scientist who led the Human Genome Project and served under three presidents as the Director of the National Institute of Health (NIH). A former atheist, Dr. Collins became a Christian during his medical training, and went on to author books on faith and science, including The Road to Wisdom and The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.

Missed the lecture? View Dr. Collins' St. Norbert College full lecture here, available thru May 17, 2026.

Short lecture highlight clips also available: clip 1, clip 2

Lecture Take-away...

What an incredible evening exploring the intersection of faith and science with renowned physician-scientist Dr. Francis Collins.

Dr. Collins shared his deeply personal journey of faith, sparked by a pivotal interaction with a patient, and reflected on how Christianity has shaped his life and vocation. With humility and wonder, he spoke about seeing God’s handiwork throughout his scientific work—something he simply cannot “unsee.”

With more than 500 people registered for Friday’s event, the energy in the room was unmistakable. It was a gathering of curious minds and open hearts, eager to learn how both the laboratory and the cathedral can be sacred spaces of worship. Dr. Collins even surprised the audience with a special gift of song to close the evening!

A beautiful night, gathered for an even greater purpose.

St. Norbert College thanks Chu Distinguished Lecture Platinum Sponsors

Maggie & Dr. John Raymond on behalf of the Medical College of Wisconsin

Learn more about the Medical College of Wisconsin at https://www.mcw.edu/

More on Dr. Collins' Lecture...

"The Laboratory and the Cathedral: Both Can Be Places of Worship"

Many people today assume that science and faith are somehow in conflict. As a former atheist who became a Christian during medical training, and then went on to lead the Human Genome Project and serve as the Director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins begs to differ. He sees God as the author of all creation. Science provides an opportunity to explore that creation, and through scientific discoveries to get a glimpse of God's mind. Collins finds Francis Bacon's words from centuries ago still apt: God gave us two books: the book of God's words (the Bible) and the book of God's works (nature). The two books can't be in conflict, since God is the author of both. Viewed in that way, science can be seen as a form of worship, and the laboratory and the cathedral are not all that different.

View Dr. Collins' full lecture here!

Full Lecture - available through May 17, 2026

View clips of Dr. Collins' lecture here!

Clip 1

Clip 2

More About Dr. Collins...

St. Norbert College is extremely proud to welcome our 2026 Chu Lecture Speaker, Dr. Francis Collins. Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., is the former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As the longest serving director of NIH — spanning 12 years and three presidencies — he oversaw the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world, from basic to clinical research.

Dr. Collins' research laboratory has discovered a number of important genes, including those responsible for cystic fibrosis, neurofibromatosis, Huntington's disease, a familial endocrine cancer syndrome, and most recently, genes for type 2 diabetes, and the gene that causes Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a rare condition that causes premature aging.

For more on Dr. Collins, visit his website.

The Dr. Benjamin T. Chu Distinguished Lecture

n honor of Dr. Peter J.W. Debye

The Dr. Benjamin T. Chu Distinguished Lecture celebrates the meeting of faith and reason at Catholic institutions, as well as the major contribution that Norbertines have made through history to the sciences.

The purpose of the Chu Distinguished Lecture is to invite a featured lecturer, a scholar – oftentimes someone who serves as a physical scientist – who not only has reached a level of genuine distinction in their field but who also has demonstrated that faith plays a significant role in their work and/or personal life.

Dr. Benjamin Chu is a 1955 graduate and past trustee of St. Norbert College. One of the college’s earliest Asian students, he was born in China in 1932 and was steered to SNC by Irish Jesuits who ran a high school in Hong Kong. He would go on to a distinguished career as a chemist, researcher and entrepreneur at SUNY-Stony Brook.

While pursuing his graduate and postdoctoral work at Cornell University, Chu studied under the acclaimed physicist and physical chemist Dr. Peter J.W. Debye, winner of the 1936 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Debye would prove to be a major and lasting influence on countless students, including Ben.

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