Aquinas Center creates two
Catholic studies professorships
Two endowed professorships have been created with funds from the Aquinas
Center of Theology, a Catholic affiliate of the University. One new chair
will be in Emory College, the other in the Candler School. The agreement
advances the goals of the center and the University, leaders of both say,
by helping assure that Catholic thought is included in students' exposure
to religious ideas and traditions.
Under the agreement approved by the Aquinas Center's board of directors,
the center in effect has given a portion of its endowment permanently to
Emory. The university will have "full and final determination over
appointments to the permanent chairs," the agreement states.
P. Lyndon Reynolds, assistant professor of historical theology at Candler
and Aquinas Center director, will be the first occupant of the Aquinas Chair
of Catholic Theology at Candler. Theological range is valued at the school,
one of 13 United Methodist seminaries in the United States.
"The Aquinas Chair further cements an important tie between Candler
and friends and colleagues with whom we have worked for years," said
Candler Dean Kevin LaGree. "The chair will ensure broader theological
exposure for students and will enrich conversations among faculty. Having
a Catholic voice permanently at our table strengthens the theological education
we offer all students."
A search is underway for the Aquinas Chair of Catholic Studies, which
will be housed in the religion department, with an appointee in place by
the fall of 1999.
"We think the search will draw a major scholar to the chair and
will greatly enhance the profile of the college," said Emory College
Dean Steven Sanderson. "It fills an important slot in our understanding
of Christianity."
Richard Martin, chair of the religion department, said the department
is looking to add to its faculty of 15 scholars representing religions from
around the world "a person whose scholarship is deeply involved in
Roman Catholic tradition and whose broader commitment to religious studies
will make him or her a conversation partner with the other members of the
department."
The University also will receive support for an Aquinas Chair of Visiting
Dominican Scholars, which will bring scholars to Emory for one or two years.
Usually, it is expected, they will be priests from England's Oxford University.
The Aquinas Center of Theology, now housed on the Emory campus, organizes
conferences and courses on Catholic tradition and life. Named for Dominican
friar St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74), the center originated in 1984 as a Dominican
house of studies and took its current name in 1987. Several Aquinas Center
scholars have taught at Emory on an adjunct basis, and Reynolds became the
center's first tenure track Emory professor in 1992.
-Elaine Justice
Return
to January 12, 1998 Contents Page
|