Header image: Symposium and liturgy programs from “Design in the Universe.”
Since November 2023, I have been processing the papers of John M. Opitz. This collection houses almost 250 linear feet of materials spanning over 60 years of Opitz’s career as a distinguished medical geneticist researching congenital anomalies syndromes. While the collection provides a robust look into the research and writing of Opitz, I have been particularly interested in the ways in which the collection diverges from empirical scientific materials. Throughout my initial survey of the Opitz papers, I was drawn to items that expand my understanding of Opitz’s life beyond that of a medical geneticist: letters he had written in support of reproductive rights; manuscripts relating to other academic fields; and even materials hinting at both an intellectual and personal interest in spirituality. Unearthing these facets of the collection has felt especially significant given the intentionality with which Opitz organized his papers for donation—while there are personal materials, they are far and few between.
I am currently working through the Travel and Teaching series, which documents Opitz’s extensive resume of conference presentations, visiting professorships, clinical visits, and any scholarly or educational work that drew Opitz away from his homebase. Throughout his decades of travel, Opitz participated in several symposia and class visits on topics relating to spirituality and science. Two conferences in particular illustrate Opitz’s conception of faith and its role in the field of medicine: “Design in the Universe: Symposium Commemorating the 700th Anniversary of Thomas Aquinas 1274-1974” in 1974, and “Pastoral Counseling and Genetic Counseling: Making the Connection” in 1986. These folders contain communications surrounding the organization of these events, research and writing produced by Opitz in preparation for his presentations, as well as materials explicating the broader contexts of the events themselves.
“Design in the Universe,” a symposium inspired by the life of St. Thomas Aquinas, brought together interdisciplinary perspectives for “a day of synthesis … [and] reflection on the universe, man, and God.” George Wald (APS 1958), co-recipient of the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, served as the symposium’s keynote speaker, and Opitz was one of three panelists responding to Wald. Opitz reflects on his experience as a doctor and “journeyman biologist,” noting that although such fields necessitate being “firmly rooted in reality,” they are benefitted by a sense of devotion to realms of human experience beyond what is thought of as rational. The address further responds to a sense of anti-intellectualism and disillusionment with science permeating American culture in 1974. On this latter issue, Opitz, writes:
“I think that respect for science will come only when science and its proponents become fully humanized. Without losing any of its freedom, analytical power or methodology science can and must become completely reintegrated into the fullness of human life, participate in it, extend sympathy and compassion to it and become capable of diffusing respect and a sense of wonderment about it to all who come in contact with science and scientists. … Nevertheless, I am convinced that a regeneration of western civilization can come about only if and when science, the arts and theology join to teach man about life, to beautify it and to make him aware of its infinite gracefulness. Science and religion must together recommit themselves concretely to Life, keep faith together with man and join him in adoration.”
In addition to Opitz’s statement, this folder houses a note penned by Opitz on a piece of notepad paper:
This paper displays not only a quote from John Muir transcribed in blue ink, but also a rephrased passage from 1 Psalms 3: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.” The inclusion of this note, which at first glance seems like a scrap mistakenly filed among items relevant to the symposium, further illustrates the landscape from which Opitz’s relationship to devotion and science is born. Such notes, whether quotes from others or Opitz’s own musings, are hardly a rare sight in this collection.
In 1986, 12 years after “Design in the Universe,” Opitz again spoke on the place of spirituality in science at the conference “Pastoral Counseling and Genetic Counseling.” Opitz’s talk, entitled “Grace and Genetic Caring,” outlines both the lineage and the case for approaching genetic counseling—and medical care in general—with a Christian sense of grace. In Opitz’s words, genetic caring both “seeks to restore the integrity, dignity, self-respect, and hope of the counselees and patients” and is also “the conscious and graceful use of words to teach, to heal, and to bestow meaning.” Echoing sentiments voiced in his statement from “Design in the Universe,” Opitz advocates for a marriage of spirituality and science, even at the level of medical care, which in turn urges one to more compassionately provide care for patients.
Although only a small fraction of the John M. Opitz Papers, the folders from these two conferences reflect a thread that binds the materials found throughout this collection. Opitz was deeply committed to his work as a medical geneticist, and in this work, he was equally concerned with centering and advocating for its most human components.