Thursday, April 14, 2005, was the date of The Twenty–Fourth Annual Richard G. Osgood, Jr., Memorial Lecture in the Department of Geology.

Dr. Patricia H. Kelley (’75) of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington presented:

“Evolution and Creation: Conflicting or Compatible?”

Dr. Patricia Hagelin Kelley is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and is a graduate of The College of Wooster. She was a geology major here; Dr. Richard Osgood was her advisor and the primary reason she is a paleontologist today. After graduating from Wooster, Dr. Kelley earned her Masters and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University under the supervision of the late Dr. Stephen J. Gould, one of the most prominent paleontologists of the 20th Century. She has taught geology and paleontology at the University of Mississippi, the University of North Dakota, and the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. She has also held numerous leadership positions in the profession, including most recently the presidency of the Paleontological Society.

Dr. Kelley's primary research has been on the evolution and paleoecology of Tertiary Coastal Plain mollusks. She is especially interested in the coevolution of predators and prey among mollusks, the hypothesis of evolutionary escalation, mass extinctions, and tests of punctuated equilibrium. She has many publications detailing her work and ideas in paleontology and evolutionary theory.

Dr. Kelley has also written extensively about tonight's topic: the relationship between science and religion, particularly the friction between the two generated by evolution. She grew up in the United Methodist Church, attended Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wooster, and is presently active in her home church in Wilmington. Her husband, Jonathan, is a Presbyterian minister. Few people are better placed than Dr. Kelley to discuss the history, science, theology, and social dynamics involved when faith meets evolution. She has recently written in Geotimes:

“Many students who assume evolution is incompatible with their faith have little understanding of what evolution actually means, how it occurs and what evidence supports it. Teachers must therefore present the evidence for evolution and explain the processes involved with great clarity. But no matter how clearly a teacher communicates this information, students who perceive that evolution opposes their religious beliefs will not find these arguments convincing. Much of their resistance to evolution stems from a misunderstanding of science and how it differs from religion.”

The Richard G. Osgood, Jr. Memorial Lectureship in Geology was endowed in 1981 by his three sons in memory of their father, a paleontologist with an international reputation who taught at Wooster from 1967 until 1981. Funds from this endowment are used to bring a well-known scientist interested in paleontology and/or stratigraphy to the campus each year to lecture and meet with students.

Osgood Lecturers:

1982 John Pojeta, Jr. United States Geological Survey
1983 J. William Schopf The University of California, Los Angeles
1984 David Jablonski The University of Chicago
1985 Walter Manger (‘66) The University of Arkansas
1986 Susan Kidwell The University of Chicago
1987 Niles Eldredge The American Museum of Natural History
1988 Steven Stanley Johns Hopkins University
1989 Paul Taylor The British Museum (Natural History)
1990 Erle Kauffman The University of Colorado
1991 Rodney M. Feldmann Kent State University
1992 Molly F. Miller (‘69) Vanderbilt University
1993 John Van Wagoner (‘72) Exxon Production Research Company
1994 Adrienne Zihlman The University of California, Santa Cruz
1995 Martin Lockley The University of Colorado at Denver
1996 Timothy J. Palmer The University of Wales at Aberystwyth
1997 Jeffrey F. Mount The University of California, Davis
1998 Mary Droser The University of California, Riverside
1999 Bruce Latimer The Cleveland Museum of Natural History
2000 Paul C. Mayewski The University of New Hampshire
2001 Carlton E. Brett The University of Cincinnati
2002 Douglas H. Erwin The Smithsonian Institution
2003 Mark A. Norell The American Museum of Natural History
2004 Lonnie Thompson Ohio State University
2005 Patricia H. Kelley (‘75) University of North Carolina at Wilmington

The 2006 Osgood Lecturer:
Dr. Orrin H. Pilkey
Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina