September 20, 2005
Queens, NY – As social, educational and religious leaders renew
their focus on moral approaches to today’s most pressing issues,
St. John’s celebrated the pivotal role of ethics in its mission by
officially welcoming the scholar who holds this year’s Paul E.
McKeever Chair in Moral Theology.
Faculty and students crowded the President’s Dining Room in
Belson Hall, on the Queens campus, as Dr. Julia Upton, R.S.M.,
University Provost, and Dr. Jeffrey Fagen, Dean of St. John’s
College, welcomed Dr. Paul Lauritzen as St. John’s newest McKeever
Chair during the special reception on Tuesday, August 20.
According to Dr. Fagen, the McKeever Chair reflects St. John’s
long-standing commitment to fostering the role of morality in
education and society. As a Catholic university in the Vincentian
Tradition, St. John’s holds that moral concerns are vital not only
to theology, but also to the sciences, the professions and the
strength of a liberal arts education.
Dr. Lauritzen is a prominent scholar on the role of ethics in
modern society. He has served most recently as Chair of the
Department of Religious Studies and the Program in Applied Ethics
at John Carroll University, in Cleveland, Ohio. His publications
include “Religious Belief and Emotional Transformation: A Light in
the Heart” and “Cloning and the Future of Human Embryo Research.” A
co-editor of the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, Dr.
Lauritzen in 2003 testified before the U.S. President’s Council on
Bioethics.
The Department of Theology and Religious Studies at St. John’s
established the Paul E. McKeever Chair in Moral Theology in 1991.
The Chair is named for one of St. John’s most esteemed scholars of
moral theology. A president of the Catholic Theological Society of
America, Professor McKeever also served as editor of “The Long
Island Catholic” newspaper and “The Priest” magazine. Since
1991-92, nine distinguished scholars have held the McKeever
Chair.