University commemorates Schweitzer visit with concert June 6 and panel discussion June 7

In 1949, Nobel Peace Prize-winning physician, musician, humanitarian, and anti-nuclear advocate Albert Schweitzer made his only visit to the U.S.-during which he received an Honorary Degree in a Rockefeller Chapel ceremony that was attended by over 5,000 people.

On the 60th anniversary of that historic event, the University of Chicago, The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, and The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists are launching a two-day celebration at the University's Rockefeller Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave. On June 6, a gala concert featuring the world organ premiere of "Albert Schweitzer Portrait," and on June 7, a panel entitled "Albert Schweitzer's Legacy: From Individual Service to A World Free of Nuclear Arms." Both events are free and open to the public.

The 4:30 p.m. concert on June 6 celebrates Schweitzer's legacy of translating idealism into action, and features music for carillon, organ, and the University's Motet Choir and Rockefeller Chapel Choir, directed by James Kallembach. Wylie Crawford and James Fackenthal will be carillonneurs. Included will be the world organ premiere of "Albert Schweitzer Portrait" (composer: Gene Scheer), performed on the restored E.M. Skinner pipe organ and narrated by the Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Davenport, Dean of the University of Chicago's Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. Music of J.S. Bach, beloved of Schweitzer, will also be performed on the organ and newly restored Laura Spelman Rockefeller carillon, and the University's newly commissioned piece for organ and choir, "Wachet auf" by Sven-David Sandstr"om, will be performed for the second time (Thomas Weisflog, organ).

Schweitzer's passionate anti-nuclear advocacy was a natural outgrowth of his own direct service as a physician in Africa, anchored in his guiding ethic of reverence for all life. At the 2 p.m. panel discussion on June 7, today's leaders of the Nobel-laureate scientists' and physicians' movements for nuclear abolition and the elimination of health disparities will discuss how Schweitzer-spirited service continues to dramatically shape both realms:

  • Kennette Benedict, Executive Director and Publisher of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists;
  • Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PHD Chair of the Clinical Center Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health (REMARKS ARE OFF THE RECORD);
  • Lachlan Forrow, MD President of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, which works to eliminate health inequalities in underserved communities in the U.S. and abroad by developing leaders in service;
  • Edward W. (Rocky) Kolb, Chair of the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Chicago and founding Director of the Particle Astrophysics Center at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois;
  • Michael McCally, MD Recent past Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and Treasurer of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) when it won the Nobel Peace Price in 1985;
  • Olufunmilayo (Fumni) Olopade, MD Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor in Medicine and Human Genetics and Director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago

The June 6 and 7 events will illuminate the current state of Schweitzer's legacy, a legacy that is evolving to meet the needs of our times: today, over 230 Schweitzer Fellows annually implement Schweitzer's ethic of reverence for life on a day-to-day basis, developing service projects that directly address the health needs of underserved communities, and that follow Schweitzer's blueprint of translating idealism into on-the-ground action. Fellows serve across the U.S.-including here in our own backyard, through the Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellows Program-as well as at the Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon.