Aquinas Center Research Fellows

Aquinas Center Doctoral Fellows
Mission Statement

The Aquinas Center Doctoral Fellows program aims to explore the whole breadth of faith and reason, above all the patristic and medieval inheritance, for the purpose of doing contemporary theology. This task requires particular attention to biblical exegesis, because, as Vatican II teaches, Scripture is the soul of theology. The biblical orientation of our work establishes the importance of ecumenical and interreligious (especially Jewish-Christian) dialogue for our task. While appreciating modernity’s emphasis on history and freedom, we seek to show that this emphasis becomes adequate to divine Revelation only in light of the tradition’s emphasis on wisdom and holiness. In accord with this mission, Aquinas Center Doctoral Fellows undertake constructive theological research in systematic and moral theology, in service to the Church’s proclamation of the Gospel.

Chad Raith

Chad Raith graduated in 2000 from Georgia Tech with a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering. He then earned a Master of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, Alabama, and he taught New Testament Studies at Bessemer State Technical College. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in 2005 where he completed a two-year Master of Theology at Regent College on the thesis topic, "Is There Still 'Not Three Gods'? A Critical Analysis of Catherine Mowry LaCugna's Appropriation of the Trinitarian Theology of the Cappadocian Fathers," which won first place at the PNW AAR/SBL student essay competition and forms the basis for his forthcoming article in The International Journal of Systematic Theology. He received the Theology Award for his graduating class from Regent College.

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Matthew Ramage

Matthew Ramage received a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Illinois, a B.A. in Philosophy from Benedictine College, and the M.A. in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. After studying philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome while discerning life in a religious community, he returned to America to work for two years as a teacher and campus minister at the University of Kansas and Illinois State University. He is recently married to a fellow theologian and he is researching for his dissertation on the Divine Pedagogy and Development of Revelation in Ancient Israel. For the Aquinas Center, he is engaged in translating French theology, including that of Jean-Pierre Torrell, O.P.

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Jared Staudt

R. Jared Staudt is presently researching for his doctoral dissertation, which will focus on the virtue of religion in St. Thomas Aquinas. He earned his B.A. in Catholic Studies from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he received a Young Scholars Research Grant on the thought of Christopher Dawson. He received a fellowship to continue his studies at the University of St. Thomas and earned his M.A. in Catholic Studies in 2005. While at the University of St. Thomas, he worked as a research assistant for the Department of Catholic Studies and served as the Director of Religious Education at a parish, and he has also spent a year as a Rotary Club Student Ambassador to Poland.

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Aquinas Center Junior Fellows

Aquinas Center Junior Fellows may apply from any major and any class (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior). Fellows must have at least a 3.3 GPA. Junior Fellows are eligible for the Aquinas Center Undergraduate Thesis Award, which is given each year to a deserving graduating senior (who must be an Aquinas Center Junior Fellow). Once each semester, the Junior Fellows and the Faculty Advisory Board of the Aquinas Center gather for a formal dinner and conversation with an eminent guest lecturer who exemplifies the integration of faith and reason in contemporary culture.

Here are our distinguished 2007-2008 Junior Fellows:

Barbara Baran
Joreen Belocura
Kyle Burkhart
Rose Deffenbaugh
Peter Dittus
James Doherty
Mark Henderson
Kristina Hubeny
Anthony Jay
Noelle Pierotti
Maria Victoria Puerto
Andrew Steele
David Szostak
Tatyana Talamas
Wayne Talamas
Miriel Thomas
Jeremiah Vallery