Welcome to The College of Saint Thomas More

The Academic Fellowship

The Fellows and Tutors of the College are its principal asset, representing as they do a community of learning founded by the great Greek poets and philosophers, the law-givers and Gospel writers, sometimes neglected, always recovered and vivified, and living still wherever the adventure of ideas is valued. The members of the Academic Fellowship are privileged to represent this tradition to the best of their abilities through teaching, writing, and service to their students.

DR. JAMES PATRICK, Chancellor, Fellow and Tutor in Theology
B.Arch., Auburn University (1956)
B.D., University of the South (1962)
S.T.M., University of the South (1963)
M.A., Philosophy, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1971)
Th.D., Trinity College, University of Toronto (1968)

Dr. Patrick was born in Paris, Tennessee. He was educated in the public schools of Nashville and at the University School of Nashville, from which he graduated in 1951. After a semester at Vanderbilt in engineering he moved to the School of Architecture of Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University, from which he graduated in 1956. At Auburn he met and married Pringle Smith of Athens, Tennessee, a fellow student in architecture. After graduation he was commissioned a second lieutenant, and served in the 67th Field Artillery in Friedberg, Germany from 1956 to 1968. Having been born a Baptist, an interest in history made him an Episcopalian, and he developed a sense of vocation with regard to teaching the Christian religion. After a year with the firm of Brush, Hutchison and Gwinn in Nashville, he entered St. Luke’s Seminary of the University of the South, graduating with the B.D. optime merens in 1961 and the S. T. M. In 1963 he was a recipient of the Dwight Greek Medal of the university. He was ordained to the diaconate of the Episcopal Church in 1962 and to the presbyterate in 1963.
Upon his graduation from Sewanee the Patricks moved to Toronto, to Trinity College, where he was a tutor in Greek and religious studies, and where he earned his doctorate, the Th. D. from the University of Trinity College in 1968. He also served as honorary assistant at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene.
James and Pringle Patrick and Michael returned in a blizzard in December 1966 to Tennessee, where he was vicar of All Saints’, Morristown, which congregation he shepherded into parish status, and founder of the parish school. From 1967 to 1969 he was also vicar of the Chapel of Annunciation in nearby Newport, which became an organized mission during his tenure. During these years he also lectured in architectural history at the University of Tennessee.
In 1969 Dr. Patrick was offered the chair of ethics and moral theology at Nashotah House in Delafield, and he served in that capacity for two academic years. While at Nashotah he earned a master’s degree in philosophy at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He was then accepted the offer of a professorship in the School of Architecture at the University of Tennessee, to which the Patricks returned n the fall of 1971, where Dr. Patrick served as dean during the academic year 1972-73, and where Pringle completed the architecture degree she had foregone when the army called. While at the University of Tennesee, Dr. Patrick taught philosophy and theology at Thomas Aquinas College in Nashville.
In 1975 Dr. Patrick was invited to the University of Dallas, where he taught for seven years, serving as chairman of the theology department, academic dean, and dean for university affairs. .In 1981, with Dr. Ronald Muller, he founded the Saint Thomas More Institute in Fort Worth, which was intended to be an educational experiment devoted to learning in the classical liberal arts tradition in a context that neither confused or separated faith and reason. The Institute became the College of Saint Thomas More in 1993. Dr. Patrick still serves as Chancellor. The College, which is undertaking the development of its campus with the construction of the Chapel of Christ the Teacher, along with a substantial lecturing schedule, occupies his interest most intensely. Although frequently involved in the administrative side of scholarly life, his first love is teaching those true things that have shaped Christendom, with writing a close second. His best-loved theologians are the obvious: Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. His favorite authors are Chesterton, Lewis, Walker Percy, Flannery O’Connor, and Evelyn Waugh, and among contemporary philosophers R. G. Collingwood holds a place of special esteem.
In addition to a secondary but perduring interest in architecture, Dr. Patrick’s scholarly fields are the early church fathers, the nineteenth century, and twentieth century English-language theology and philosophy, especially as it is represented by C. S. Lewis., T. S. Eliot, and R. G. Collingwood. His writings have appeared in Victorian Studies, Latin Mass, The Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Chronicles, and in Collingwood Studies, on the editorial board of which he has served since 1990. In 1981 he published Architecture in Tennessee, 1767-1896, in 1984 The Magdalen Metaphysicals: Orthodoxy and Idealism at Oxford, 1901-1945, in 1999 (as editor, with Andrew Walker) C. S. Lewis, A Christian for All Christians, and in 2007 The Beginnings of Collegiate Education West of the Appalachians, 1795-1833: the Achievement of Dr. Charles Coffin of Greeneville College and East Tennessee College.
In 1986 Dr. Patrick was honored with the Auburn University Alumni Achievement Award, “for singular accomplishment that fosters the humanities, ennobling life and the human spirit,” and in 1995 he was awarded the Freedom Medal of the Mindszenty Foundation. He is a Knight of Magistral Grace of the Sovereign Military Order of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta.”

MR. HARRY H. LACEY, Senior Tutor in the Liberal Arts Curriculum, Fellow and Senior Tutor in Classical Studies
Fellow in Classical Languages
A.B., Classical Languages and Literature, Princeton University (1957)
M.Div., Nashotah House (1972)
Graduate Study in Classical Languages, U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1962-4)
Graduate Study in Politics and Literature, University of Dallas (1972-5)

Mr. Lacey received his A.B. degree in Classical Languages from Princeton University and studied Classical Languages at the graduate level at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While at the University of North Carolina, he served as an instructor of Latin. He received his MDiv from Nashotah House and was an ECF Fellow, studying at the University of Dallas. Mr. Lacey also found the College’s secondary school project, The Lady Margaret Roper School.

DR. JUDITH SHANK, Fellow and Senior Tutor in Literature and Philosophy, Director of Publications
B.A., Philosophy, University of Oklahoma (1971)
M.A., Human Relations, University of Oklahoma (1972)
M.A., Philosophy and Literature, Die Internationale Akademie fur Philosophie im Liechtenstein (1986)
Ph.D., cum laude, Philosophy and Literature, Die Internationale Akademie fur Philosophie (1988)

Dr. Shank is the Director of the Literature program at the College of St. Thomas More. The curriculum explores the great texts of Western Civilization. Dr. Shank is responsible for the interdisciplinary overseas Greece Studies Program which focuses on the classical sites and art of ancient Greece, including study in Athens, Delphi, Olympia, Mycenae, Crete, Santorini, Ephessos, Troy, and Istanbul. She has written for the Institute Papers and Aletheia: an International Yearbook of Philosophy.

DR. RON LEDEK, Fellow and Senior Tutor in Philosophy
B.A., Philosophy, University of Kentucky (1975)
M.A., Philosophy, University of Dallas (1978)
Ph.D., cum laude, Philosophy, Internationale Akademie fur Philosophie im Liechtenstein (1994)

His dissertation, subsequently published, deals with the nature of conscience and the existence of God, delving into our experience of conscience and consulting the thought of Newman contra Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Freud. It is still in print after a dozen years.

He taught philosophy at Brookhaven College, Tarrant County College, TCU, and the College of St. Thomas More since 2005. He was elected a Fellow in 2007.

Areas of interest: Philosophy of the Person, Value Philosophy (Ethics & Aesthetics), Realist Phenomenology, Philosophy of Religion, Thomas Aquinas and Thomism, Existential Thought, Newman and Christian Theology.

DR. DONALD CARLSON, Fellow and Tutor in Literature (not pictured)
B.A., English, cum laude, University of Dallas (1978)
M.A., English, University of Dallas (1986)
Ph.D., Literature, University of Dallas (1991)

Dr. Carlson received his Ph.D. in Literature and M.A. in English from the University of Dallas. In 1987, he received the Richard M. Weaver Fellowship Award. Dr. Carlson is on the Board of Visitors and teaches Writing Tutorial at the College of St. Thomas More

Mr. Cooper received his M.A. in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 2005, writing his M.A. thesis on beauty in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. As a Ph.D. candidate at Catholic University of America, he is in the process of writing his dissertation, which deals with the nature of truth in the medieval Augustinian tradition. Mr. Cooper has received several awards, including The Chancellor’s List, the Johnston Fellow Scholarship, Bradley Fellow (2004-2006), and the Elizabeth Breckenridge Caldwell Fellow. His areas of specialization are medieval epistemology and medieval metaphysics, most especially St. Thomas Aquinas. His areas of interest include Aristotelian philosophy, early modern philosophy, and phenomenology.

Class notes for Ethics (PHIL JS3551) may be downloaded here.

Mr. Shivone is a native Texan and was graduated from the College of St. Thomas More in 2001, after which he spent a year studying theology at the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria. In 2009 he received an M.A. in English from the University of Dallas, where he is studying for a Ph.D. in Literature. He teaches literature at the College and serves as Assistant to the Chancellor. His major areas of interest are English literature of the early seventeenth century, Southern literature, and the work of T.S. Eliot.

MR. SCHUYLER WATLEY, Scholar Associate in Theology
B.A., Liberal Arts, College of St. Thomas More (2003)
M.A. (Candidate), Theology, University of Dallas

Mr. Watley will complete his MA in Theology in Fall, 2009. His thesis paper is Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humane Compared to Prior Papal Teaching on Religious Liberty and the Dissent of the Society of St. Pius X. He served as adjunct theology professor at the University of Dallas in 2007. He taught New Testament at St. Philip Neri Latin School in Fort Worth, Texas in 2004. His expertise is in the Catholic theological/doctrinal import of Scripture with special reference to apologetics in responding to the theology, doctrine, and apologetics of Confessional and Evangelical Protestantism, and certain non-Christian religions.

ROSE MARIE CHISOLM, Visiting Tutor in the Quadrivium
B.A., Spanish and French, Iowa Wesleyan College
M.M., Theory and Piano, Indiana University

Mrs. Chisholm, as visiting tutor, combines history, philosophy, and music to create an appreciation for the music of Western Civilization. She received her Master of Music from Indiana University and has been honored with numerous awards including Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, Pi Kappa Lambda Music Hononar, Southeast Iowa Symphony Artist, and National Merit Scholar. She has performed and taught in the United States, Puerto Rico, Austria, and Taiwan. She coaches and performs vocal and chamber music and teaches at the University of North Texas.

DR. ROBERT BERNARD, Visiting Fellow in Classical Studies (not pictured)
B.A., Princeton University
M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary
Ph.D., Princeton University

Dr. Bernard was a Scholar in Residence at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and received his Ph.D. in Classical Languages from Princeton University. He received his M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary. While at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Bernard was a Consultant in Doctoral Research and Writing, Director of the Modern Language Studies Program, and instructor. He has studied Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, Aramaic, Italian, French, and German.

Dr. Howard received his Ph.D. from New York University and his M.A. from University of Illinois. For over forty years he has published articles in The New York Times Book Review, Redbook, Modern Age, Studies in the Literary Imagination, New Oxford Review, Crisis, Christianity Today, and Communio. Books written by Dr. Howard are Christ the Tiger; Chance or the Dance; The Liturgy Explained; Hallowed Be This House; Evangelical is Not Enough; C.S. Lewis: Man of Letters; The Novels of Charles Williams; Lead, Kindly Light; If Your Mind Wanders at Mass; On Being Catholic.
As a guest, Dr. Howard teaches seminars at the College of St. Thomas More.

MRS. SHARON KIRK, Business Manager

MR. JOHN HEITZENRATER, Resident, Executive Administrator for the College and Lady Margaret Roper School

MRS. MARSHA LIVINGSTON, Bursar

MRS. PAT BOWERS, Librarian, Institutional Research Officer, SACS Liaison

MRS. MARY SWANSON, Financial Aid Officer

MR. FRANK LUKAS, Development Counselor

FR. GEORGE CURTSINGER, Chaplain

MR. JOHN KERR, Director of Religious Affairs

MR. KENNETH SCAGEL, Dean of the Lady Margaret Roper School