Gregor Johann Mendel, Abbot of the Augustinian Monastery, Brünn, Austria, (now Brno, the Czech Republic), discovered the celebrated laws of heredity which now bear his name: the law of segregation and the law of independent assortment — that prove the existence of paired elementary units of heredity (factors) and establish the statistical laws governing them.

Abbey of St. Thomas, in Brno, Czech Republic

He later presented his work from these experiments in two lectures before the Society for the Study of the Natural Sciences in Brünn in 1865. His paper resulting from these lectures, Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden ("Experiments in Plant Hybridization,") was published in the Society's Proceedings in 1866.

Please take a moment to use the following pages to learn more about the man and his work, and the great history and contribution that he represents at Villanova.

Mendel's Garden at Villanova

As an Augustinian community of higher education, Villanova University is one of the custodians of Gregor Mendel’s legacy. The accomplishments of this 19th century Augustinian friar, teacher, scientist and mathematician have helped shape the world’s collective understanding of genes, crossbreeding, and heredity. His work remains a vital part of contemporary study of the natural and physical sciences at the University.

Villanova's state-of-the-art Mendel Science Center is named after him, and Mendel's legacy is celebrated daily by the students and faculty who study there. The Center houses the many classrooms, lecture halls, offices, and laboratories in which Villanova astronomers, biologists, chemists, computer scientists, geographers, and physicists carry forward the Mendelian tradition of excellence in the discovery of new knowledge and incorporation of it into the curricula for our students. A sculpture of Mendel, modeled after Theodore Charlemont’s 1910 Mendel memorial in the square in front of Mendel’s monastery in Brno, adorns the Mendel Plaza at the east entrance to the Center. Our live web cam images the plaza as Mendel, standing serenely in front of a wall of sculpted peas, looks out to the garden and the gathering place where many Villanovans choose to rest and to reflect.