Q&A: John McCarter

John McCarter is the chief executive officer and president of one of America's premier science research and exhibition centers: the Field Museum in Chicago. Under his leadership, the museum has embarked on a major expansion of its physical structure and the scope of its research activities. He oversees the work of 200 scientists, including far-flung legions of field researchers at the forefront of international efforts to protect endangered tropical environments, and home-based teams of laboratory investigators doing cutting-edge studies in new disciplines like molecular evolution. McCarter, who also serves as a trustee of the University of Chicago, has emerged as one of the leading critics of the intelligent design movement and an outspoken proponent of teaching modern evolutionary theory to all students. In March the Field Museum opened a controversial new exhibit called the Evolving Planet, which takes visitors on a 4-billion-year journey that shows life on Earth developing from ...