Villanova Theologian Gerald J. Beyer, PhD, Receives Monika K. Hellwig Award for Excellence in Teaching
VILLANOVA, Pa. – Gerald J. Beyer, PhD, professor of Theology and Religious Studies in Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been named the 2022 recipient of the College Theology Society’s Monika K. Hellwig Award for Excellence in Teaching, which recognizes the importance of teaching and honors outstanding teachers in the field.
The award is named for the late renowned scholar and teacher Monika K. Hellwig, PhD. It recognizes development of innovative and/or exceptionally effective teaching methods, commitment to professional identity as a teacher of Theology, and outstanding performance as a classroom teacher. Dr. Beyer received the honor on June 5 during the College Theology Society annual conference.
“It is a tremendous honor for me to receive an award named after Dr. Hellwig, a towering figure in 20th and 21st-century Catholic theology and a longtime professor at my alma mater, Georgetown University,” Dr. Beyer said. “She taught there during my undergraduate days.”
An expert in the field of Christian ethics, Dr. Beyer is the author of Just Universities: Catholic Social Teaching Confronts Corporatized Higher Education (Fordham University Press, 2021), which addresses how Catholic universities can create environments more conducive to Catholic social teaching.
His other academic work includes Recovering Solidarity: Lessons from Poland’s Unfinished Revolution (University of Notre Dame Press, 2010) and numerous articles in academic journals as well as in America, Commonweal and National Catholic Reporter. He is vice president of the Villanova Chapter of the American Association of University Professors. He received his doctorate from Boston College.
About Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Since its founding in 1842, Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has cultivated knowledge, understanding and intellectual courage for a purposeful life in a challenging and changing world. With more than 40 majors across the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, it is the oldest and largest of Villanova’s colleges, serving more than 4,500 undergraduate and graduate students each year. The College is committed to a teacher-scholar model, offering outstanding undergraduate and graduate research opportunities and a rigorous core curriculum that prepares students to become critical thinkers, strong communicators and ethical leaders with a truly global perspective.