Grove City College will host Dr. Mitchell O. Stokes for the Albert A. Hopeman Jr. Memorial Lecture in Science, Engineering and Mathematics at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31 in Sticht Lecture Hall of the Hall of Arts and Letters on campus.
Stokes is Senior Fellow of Philosophy at New Saint Andrews College, where he teaches graduate courses in philosophy and undergraduate courses in mathematics and logic. He will discuss “STEM and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.” The Hopeman lecture is free and open to the public.
“This is an excellent opportunity to take a deep dive into the relationship between science, math, engineering, philosophy and the Christian faith from an outstanding scholar with a truly unique education and life experience. The fact that he is a fine speaker who loves dialogue makes this even more exciting,” Dr. David Ayers, interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs and professor of Sociology.
While on campus, Stokes will present two additional lectures. At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31 in the auditorium on the ground floor of STEM Hall he will speak on the intersection of faith and profession in a lecture entitled “Is There Such a Thing as ‘Christian’ Math and Engineering?” His final lecture on campus – “Does the Appreciation of Beauty Matter in Science, Math and Engineering?” – will be presented at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1 in Arnold Recital Hall of Pew Fine Arts Center. Both lectures will include time for a brief Q&A session.
Stokes completed a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida, then went on to obtain a M.S. in mechanical engineering from University of Central Florida. As an engineer, he specialized in areas such as gas turbines and fluid mechanics, obtaining numerous patents and doing engineering, research and development for firms such as Siemens-Westinghouse and Precision Combustion.
He studied at the Reformed Theological Seminary-Orlando, where he was advised by former Grove City College President Charles Mackenzie, and completed an M.A. in religion from Yale University. He earned both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.
Stokes is a visiting scholar in Science and Religion for Scholarship & Christianity in Oxford, the United Kingdom’s subsidiary of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities,working on the Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and the Humanities II project. He is an accomplished writer, publishing numerous papers, book chapters and a book, “How To Be An Atheist: Why Many Skeptics Aren’t Skeptical Enough,” in 2016. His forthcoming book is “Calculus for Everyone: Understanding the Mathematics of Change.”
The Albert A. Hopeman Jr. Memorial Lecture in Science, Engineering and Mathematics is hosted by the Grove City College Alumni Association. The annual event is in honor of Albert A. Hopeman Jr., a renowned engineer, industrialist and benefactor of the College.
Hopeman served on the Grove City College Board of Trustees from 1953 to 1998 and as president from 1972 to 1998. In 1997, the College’s school of engineering and sciences was named after him, he was granted honorary alumnus status by the Alumni Association and the first Hopeman lecture was held.