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The mission of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College is to educate men and women in accord with the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, so that they can teach effectively and bear witness to the Catholic faith. Faculty are chosen for their commitment to this mission, and for the excellence of their teaching, scholarship, and pastoral work.

GRADUATE SCHOOL FACULTY

Benjamin D. Akers,
Lecturer in Theology
M.A., B.A., Christendom College

Professor Akers is the Director of the Christendom College Rome Program which allows students the opportunity to study and to live in the Eternal City for a semester. He is currently pursuing an S.T.L. in Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Before moving to Rome, he worked for 3 years with FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) doing campus evangelization in Boulder, Colorado.

Kristin Popik Burns,
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Dean of Graduate School
Ph.D., Ph.L., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome
M.A., Niagara University
B.A., University of Dallas

Dr. Burns was the first woman to earn the doctorate in Philosophy at the Angelicum, and was a founding faculty member of Christendom College. She is a former Richard Weaver Fellow. She specializes in the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and is a member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.

Sebastian Carnazzo,
Lecturer in Sacred Scripture
Ph.D. candidate, Catholic University of America
M.A., Christendom College
B.S., California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo, CA

Professor Carnazzo is a professor of Sacred Scripture and Biblical Languages at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary of the Fraternity of St Peter in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska. He has published articles in Eastern Christian Journal. He is a member of the Catholic Biblical Association and the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.

Salvatore J. Ciresi,
Lecturer in Theology
M.A., Christendom College
B.A., Strayer University

Professor Ciresi is the founder and director of the St. Jerome Biblical Guild, an educational apostolate that promotes the study of Scripture within a theological and practical framework. He was a diocesan consultant for the revision of the National Directory for Catechesis, and he writes a regular Scripture column for The Latin Mass magazine. Ciresi is a former host of the Catholic radio show CrossTalk and has a special interest in the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy.

Rev. Paul F. deLadurantaye,
Assistant Professor of Theology
S.T.D., S.T.L., John Paul II Institute, Washington, DC
S.T.B., Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, Rome
B.A., St. Charles Borromeo Seminary

Fr. DeLadurantaye serves the Arlington Diocese as Judge of the Tribunal, Secretary for Religious Education, Secretary for Sacred Liturgy, and Director of Studies for the Permanent Diaconate Program. He is a member of the boards of the Catholic Distance University and the Natural Law Study Center. For five years Fr. DeLadurantaye served as Vice-rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He has written and spoken extensively on the human person, bioethics, marital love, and the natural law.

Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M.,
Professor of Spirituality
Ph.D., M.A., Catholic University of America

Fr. Dubay is a well-known retreat master and expert in the spiritual life. A Marist Priest, he has taught at the major seminary level for about fifteen years. He spent the last three decades giving retreats and writing books (over twenty at last count) on various aspects of the spiritual life. He is an expert on the teachings and writings of the two great mystical doctors of the Church, John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila.

Nora Street Hamerman,
Lecturer in Sacred Art
Ph.D. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
M.A., New York University
B.A., Michigan State University

Prof. Hamerman studied Italian Renaissance Art in Rome for three years as a Fulbright Scholar and as a Chester Dale Fellow of the National Gallery of Art. She has taught history of art at the University of Virginia and at Shenandoah University. She is a regular contributor to the Arlington Catholic Herald on sacred art and cultural topics. Her specialty is sacred art from a Catholic perspective and its relation to theology.

Rev. Rodger Hunter Hall,
Assistant Professor of Theology
S.T.D. candidate, S.T.L., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome
M.A., S.T.B., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome
B.L.S., St. Edward's University, Austin, TX

Fr. Hunter Hall is a priest of the Archdiocese of L'Aquila in the Abruzzi region of Italy where he was secretary to the archbishop. He is a librarian specializing in religion and philosophy at the Library of Congress and is on the staff of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. In 1994 he served as secretary to the president of the Episcopal Conference of the Antilles during the Synod on the Church in Africa. He is a former editor of Crisis Magazine and a Papal Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. His areas of specialization are mystical and ascetical theology, the Johannine corpus, and the teachings of Pope John Paul II.

Colette Ellis Lienhard,
Lecturer in Catechetics
Advanced Apostolic Catechetical Diploma, Christendom College
M.A., Christendom College
H.B.A., University of Western Ontario

Professor Lienhard is the Director of the Catholic Education Center, LLC, which offers on-line catechist certification courses and web-based resources for all who minister in Catholic Education. She is the author of the newly revised Faith and Life series, published by Ignatius Press, having revised the texts, and written the Teacher's Manuals and Activity books for grades 1-8. She was a diocesan consultant for the revision of the National Directory for Catechesis, and is a frequent lecturer on catechetics in the Dioceses of Arlington and Richmond. Her special interest is training people for ministry.

William R. Luckey, T.O.P.,
Professor of Catholic Social Teachings
M. A., Ph.D. Fordham University
M. B. A., Shenandoah University
M. A. (econ), George Mason University.
B. A., St. John's University, New York

Dr. Luckey is Professor of Political Science and Economics at Christendom College where he has taught since 1984. He has published "John Courtney Murray: A Catholic Appreciation" in John Courtney Murray and the American Civil Conversation, and various articles in Faith and Reason and in the Journal of Markets and Morality. He is member of the advisory board of the Center for Economic Personalism, an adjunct scholar of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty and the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and a member of the Board of Scholars of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy. He is also a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic.

William E. May,
Professor of Moral Theology
Ph.D., Marquette University
M.A., B. A., Catholic University of America

A well-known Catholic moral theologian, Dr. May is the author of more than 200 essays and a dozen books, among them An Introduction to Moral Theology, Catholic Sexual Ethics, and Catholic Bioethics and the Gift of Human Life. He was appointed by Pope John Paul II to serve on the International Theological Commission from 1986-97 and to serve as peritus for the 1987 Synod of Bishops. Dr. May taught at Catholic University for twenty years and is now the Michael J. McGivney Professor of Moral Theology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. He is the recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal, the Cardinal Wright Award, the Thomas Linacre Award, and the St. Dominic Medal. In 2007 he was awarded the Paul Ramsey Award for outstanding contributions to bioethics. His most recent book is Standing with Peter: A Lay Theologian's Reflections on God's Loving Providence.

Fr. Brian Mullady, O.P.,
Lecturer in Theology
S.T.L. and S.T.D., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome
M.A., St. Albert's College, Oakland, CA
B.A., St. Albert's College, Oakland, CA

Fr. Brian Mullady is an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College and Seminary, one of the founders of their Distance Learning program and a retreat and mission preacher. He is a specialist in Moral Theology and has written three books and has numerous CD lectures. He is a regular on EWTN and writes the question and answer column in Homiletic and Pastoral Review. He is a specialist on questions of nature and grace and in the thought of Thomas Aquinas. He is a member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and an academician in the Catholic Academy of Sciences as well as staff theologian for the Institute of Religious Life.

Rev. Thomas W. Nelson, O.Praem.,
Lecturer in Theology of Consecrated Life
S.T.L., M.A., S.T.B., Ph.B., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome

Fr. Thomas Nelson, O.Praem., is a Norbertine priest of St. Michael's Abbey in Orange, California. He is the Director of Formation at St. Michael's Abbey and a lecturer in philosophy and spirituality in their Studium. He is the National Director of the Institute on Religious Life, and the Director of the Vita Consecrata Institute.

Rev. Mark Pilon,
Associate Professor of Theology
S.T.D., Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome
S.T.L., Pontifical Lateran University, John Paul II Institute
M.A., Catholic University of America
B.A., University of Detroit

Fr. Pilon is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Mt. St. Mary Seminary, where he also serves as Chairman of the Systematic Theology Department. He has taught in the past at Christendom College, at the Christian Commonwealth Institute in Escorial, Spain, and at the Catholic University of America.

Stephen Pimentel,
Lecturer in Sacred Scripture
M.A., Christendom College
M.S., B.S., The Johns Hopkins University

Stephen Pimentel is a writer and lecturer on Catholic biblical theology.. He is the author of Witnesses of the Messiah: On the Acts of the Apostles 1-15 and Envoy of the Messiah: On the Acts of the Apostles 16-28. He is also a contributor to Catholic for a Reason III: Scripture and the Mystery of the Mass and Catholic for a Reason IV: Scripture and the Mystery of Marriage and Family Life. He has written popular articles on Scripture for Lay Witness and Homiletic & Pastoral Review magazines. His papers on Thomistic philosophy have been published in the Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.

Sister M. Timothy Prokes, F.S.E.,
Professor of Theology and Spirituality
Ph.D., ICT, University of St. Michael's College, Toronto
M.A., B.A., Marquette University

A Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist, Sr. Timothy has published Toward a Theology of the Body, Mutuality: The Human Image of Trinitarian Love, and At the Interface: Theology and Virtual Reality, in addition to several articles. She has taught in many universities in the US and Canada, and frequently lectures at conferences on the themes of theology of the body, bioethical issues, and the spiritual life. She is also a professor of the Permanent Diaconate Program of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

Donald S. Prudlo,
Assistant Professor of Theology and Church History
Ph.D., University of Virginia
M.A., B.A., Christendom College

Dr. Prudlo is Assistant Professor of Ancient and Medieval History at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. Previously, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Liberty Fund in Indianapolis, Indiana. He also serves as a professor of Theology and Church History for Catholic Distance University. He is the author of several articles on such topics as hagiography, scriptural theology, and Church history. His first book, on the life and cult of St. Peter of Verona is forthcoming from Ashgate in early 2008. He is currently working the history and theology of sainthood, especially in the Medieval Church and on the medieval rivalry between the mendicant orders. His specialties include Church History, Hagiography, and Historical and Sacramental theology.

Rev. Michael J. Roach,
Lecturer in Church History
M.A., The Catholic University of America
B.A., Loyola College, Baltimore

Fr. Roach teaches Church history at Mount St. Mary's Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland, and is pastor of St. Bartholomew Parish in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Fr. Roach has appeared on radio, TV, and in movies as an expert in American Church history, Irish Americans, and the history of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He has written articles in several encyclopedias, and is a popular lecturer on these areas of expertise.

Rev. William P. Saunders,
Professor of Catechetics and Theology
Ph.D., The Catholic University of America
M.A., St. Charles Borromeo Seminary
B.B.A., College of William and Mary

A priest of the Diocese of Arlington, Fr. Saunders is the founding pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish. He served as President of the Notre Dame Institute and Dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School from 1992 to 2002. For over ten years he authored the popular weekly column "Straight Answers" in the Arlington Catholic Herald and has published two books of the collected articles. He has also written articles in Catholic Answers, Linacre Quarterly, and Lay Witness. He is an expert on colonial American Catholic history.

Steve Weidenkopf,
Lecturer in Church History
M.A., Christendom College
B.A., Syracuse University

Professor Weidenkopf is the author of the upcoming adult faith formation program Epic: A Journey through Church History and has written commentaries on Humanae Vitae and Lumen Gentium for the group ENDOW(Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women). He served as the Director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Archdiocese of Denver (2001 - 2004) and was a theological advisor to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap. He teaches marriage preparation classes in the Diocese of Arlington. His interests include the Crusades and the Reformation.

Rev. Norbert J. Wood, O.Praem.,
Lecturer in Theology of the Consecrated Life
M.Ed.Admin., University of San Francisco
3 years liturgical studies, Pontificio Istituto Liturgico di Sant'Anselmo, Rome
B.A., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome

Fr. Norbert is the Rector of St. John the Baptist Parish Elementary School in Costa Mesa, CA, and Sunday chaplain to the boys at Joplin Juvenile Detention Center in Trabuco Canyon, CA. He has spent nearly twenty years in Catholic education, primarily on the secondary level, as teacher, principal and administrator. He is a summer professor at the Vita Consecrata Institute, and he preaches retreats to priests, religious and laity in the US, Canada, India, Australia and the Philippines.

Special and Guest Faculty

Rev. Jordan Aumann, O.P., Professor Emeritus of Spirituality

Rev. Robert J. Bradley, S.J., Professor Emeritus of Theology and Catechetics

Rev. Romanus Cessario, O.P., McClunn Visiting Professor of Thomistic Studies, 2001

Dr. Scott Hahn, McClunn Visiting Professor of Thomistic Studies, 2000

Dr.Russell Hittinger, McClunn Visiting Professor of Thomistic Studies, 1998

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