Elizabethtown College will host renowned New York Times columnist, author, and science journalist Carl Zimmer on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. for the annual Lefever Lecture in Leffler Chapel & Performance Center.
Regarded by New York Magazine as “the country’s most respected science journalist,” Zimmer will present his lecture, “The Age of AI: Cracking the Code of Life,” where he will examine how artificial intelligence is transforming biology. In his talk, he will offer a glimpse into a not-so-distant future when computers can discover how to make new kinds of cells, and possibly new types of life.
The author of 15 books about science, Zimmer’s latest work, “Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe,” was named one of Smithsonian Magazine’s Ten Best Science Books of 2025. Zimmer writes the “Origins” column for the New York Times. His writing has earned a number of awards, including the Stephen Jay Gould Prize, awarded by the Society for the Study of Evolution.
Zimmer will serve as the second of three internationally known speakers as part of this year’s 2025-26 Elizabethtown College Lecture Series. The Lefever Lecture is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
The Lefever Lecture is made possible by a generous endowed gift from Ernest W. Lefever ’42, H’92.