The Mendel Medal was established in honor of Gregor Johann Mendel, Abbot of the
Augustinian Monastery, Brünn, Austria, (now Brno, the Czech Republic), who
discovered the celebrated laws of heredity which now bear his name.
The Mendel Medal is awarded to outstanding scientists who have done much by
their painstaking work to advance the cause of science, and, by their lives and
their standing before the world as scientists, have demonstrated that between
true science and true religion there is no intrinsic conflict.
The Mendel Medal was established in 1928 by the Board of Trustees of Villanova
University to recognize scientific accomplishment and religious conviction. The
Medal was first awarded in 1929 and given annually until 1943. Between 1946 and
1968, the Medal was awarded eight times. After a hiatus of twenty-five years, it
was reestablished in 1992 as part of the Villanova University's Sesquicentennial
Celebrations. Past recipients have included Nobel Laureates, outstanding medical
researchers, pioneers in physics, astrophysics and chemistry, and noted
scientist-theologians.
