Feeling Curious about a Particle Physicist Who’s Also a Priest? Ask Him a Question!

A priest and a physicist walk into a bar… and it’s the same guy.

Possibly minus the bar part, such is life for John Cunningham, S.J., Ph.D., an associate professor of physics (and chair of the physics department) at Loyola University in Chicago. His bio says that his research interests focus on experimental particle and astrophysics, cosmic rays, dark energy, and heavy quark physics.

When he’s not studying and teaching, Cunningham is a Catholic priest — a Jesuit, to be precise — tending to his ministry.

I read a not-entirely-satisfying recent interview with him in Medill Reports and wondered if we could do better — and by we I mean you.

Here’s the plan. Cunningham has graciously agreed to answer up to ten questions from Friendly Atheist readers. Let’s make them intelligent and worth discussing. He will be our guest, and so I highly recommend you keep it polite and on target.

You may pose your question in the comments below, or email it to me here. In a few days, I will pick (at my discretion) the most interesting ones and forward them to Cunningham. He has promised to respond to all of them before the end of next week.