Faculty and Staff
Ryan Center Office
Steven F. McGuire, Ph.D., Director
Dr. McGuire served as Acting Director of the Ryan Center for the 2019-2020 academic year and was appointed permanent Director in fall 2020. He is also an AssistantTeaching Professor in the Augustine and Culture Seminar Program.
His research interests include the history of political thought, Eric Voegelin, Immanuel Kant, and F. W. J. Schelling,
as well as the aims and value of liberal education.
Jordan Watts, Ph.D., Assistant Director
Dr. Watts has been Assistant Director at the Ryan Center since 2019. He is also an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Augustine and Culture Seminar Program.
Faculty Associates
We welcome faculty who support our mission from across the Villanova community to be Ryan Center Faculty Associates.The Ryan Center Faculty Associates are members of the faculty of Villanova University whose scholarly work is related to the mission of the Ryan Center and who support the Ryan Center’s goals of promoting inquiry into the principles and processes of free government and advancing understanding of the responsibilities of statesmen and citizens of constitutional democratic societies. Because they share James Madison’s belief that only a well-instructed people can be permanently free, the Ryan Center Faculty Associates hold that it is part of their responsibility as scholars and teachers to foster in society generally and in their students in particular an appreciation of the moral, political, legal, and philosophical foundations of democratic government.
| Andrew J. Bove, M.A. Associate Director for Academic Advising Instructor Augustine and Cultural Seminar Program College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Villanova University |
Sarah Vaughan Brakman, Ph.D. Professor Department of Philosophy Villanova University |
| Patrick McKinley Brennan, J.D. John F. Scarpa Chair in Catholic Legal Studies Villanova University Charls Widger School of Law |
Peter B. Busch, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Lawrence C. Gallen Teaching Faculty Augustine and Culture Seminar Program Villanova University |
| Christopher T. Daly, D.Phil. Assistant Professor Augustine and Culture Seminar Program Villanova University |
James Matthew Wilson, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Religion and Literature Department of Humanities Villanova University |
| Emma Slonina, Ph.D. Arthur J. Ennis Post-doctoral Fellow Augustine and Culture Seminar Program Villanova University |
Stephen Napier, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Philosophy Villanova University |
| Richard Jacobs, Ph.D. Professor Public Administration Villanova University |
John Johannes, Ph.D. Professor Department of Political Science Villanova University |
| Peter Zaleski, Ph.D. Professor Department of Economics Villanova University |
Daniel Mark, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Political Science Villanova University |
| Michael Moreland, J.D. University Professor of Law and Religion Director Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law |
Alan Pichanick, Ph.D. Teaching Professor Augustine and Culture Seminar Program Villanova University |
| Tuan Samahon, J.D. Professor of Law Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law |
Brian T. Satterfield, Ph.D. Lawrence C. Gallen Teaching Fellow in the Humanities Augustine and Culture Seminar Program Villanova University |
| Jack Schrems, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus Department of Political Science Villanova University |
Mark Shiffman, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Humanities Villanova University |
| John-Paul Spiro, Ph.D. Associate Teaching Professor, Lawrence C. Gallen Teaching Fellow in the HumanitiesAugustine and Culture Seminar Program Villanova University |
James Wetzel, Ph.D. Augustinian Chair in the Thought of St. Augustine Department of Philosophy Villanova University |
| Miron Wolnicki, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Economics Villanova University |
Elizabeth-Jane McGuire, Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor Augustine and Culture Seminar Program Villanova University |
We organize programming for our faculty associates and extend them priority invitations to other Center-hosted events. We also encourage mentoring relationships between our faculty associates and students. For more information on becoming a Faculty Associate, please contact Steven McGuire.