This chair position was established in 2004 to honor Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., for his 25 years of service as President of Fairfield University (1979 – 2004).
John E. Thiel ’73, PhD, professor of religious studies in Fairfield University’s College of Arts and Sciences, has been named the new Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Professor of Catholic Studies. Dr. Thiel succeeds recently retired professor of religious studies Paul Lakeland, PhD, the inaugural holder of this prestigious chair position.
“It is an honor to be named to the Kelley Chair, which celebrates the Catholic values that orient Fairfield’s Jesuit commitments,” said Dr. Thiel. “Teaching the Catholic tradition to a couple of generations of students and contributing in some small way to the Catholic intellectual tradition through scholarly writing have been a career-long joy.”
Dr. Thiel received his BA in religious studies from Fairfield University in 1973, and his MA and PhD from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. During his 47-year teaching career at Fairfield, he has served as chair of the Religious Studies Department for 12 years, and as the director of the University Honors Program for 18 years.
The author of seven books, Dr. Thiel’s titles include Senses of Tradition: Continuity and Development in Catholic Faith (Oxford University Press, 2000), God, Evil, and Innocent Suffering (Crossroad, 2002), and Icons of Hope: The “Last Things” in Catholic Imagination (University of Notre Dame Press, 2013).
Icons of Hope was awarded first place in the “Theology” category of the 2014 Catholic Press Association book competition, and received the 2014 Alpha Sigma Nu Book Award for the best book on theology published by faculty members in Jesuit colleges and universities in the past three years.
Dr. Thiel’s most recent book, Now and Forever: A Theological Aesthetics of Time, was published this year by the University of Notre Dame Press. His articles have appeared in the Jesuit-sponsored journal Theological Studies, as well as in Modern Theology, The Heythrop Journal, New Theology Review, Horizons, Philosophy and Theology, International Journal of Systematic Theology, The Month, and Commonweal.
Elected to honorary membership in Phi Beta Kappa and to membership in the New Haven Theological Discussion Group in 1995, Dr. Thiel became a member of the American Theological Society – the oldest theological association in North America – in 2006. He currently serves as the Society's 111th president.
Since 2006, he has served as editorial consultant for Theological Studies. Twice a recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Dr. Thiel served in 2011-12 as President of the Catholic Theological Society of America, the largest professional society of theologians in the world. He was a visiting professor of religious studies at Yale University in the spring semesters of 2000, 2019, and 2020.
The Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Chair in Catholic Studies position was established in 2004 to honor Fr. Kelley for his 25 years of service as President of Fairfield University, from 1979 to 2004. Of Dr. Thiel’s appointment, Richard Greenwald, PhD, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, said, “I cannot think of a more eminently qualified faculty member to hold this chair. John has intellectual heft, a commitment to our Jesuit values, and is an internationally renowned scholar.”
