Our Faculty
Seeking Truth Together
Students who come to Franciscan University come to be challenged, strengthened, and equipped to live as salt and light in the culture. You also come to be transformed by the love, light, and wisdom of Jesus Christ.
That happens first in the classroom.
At Franciscan University, renowned scholars and experts in dozens of fields help students seek the truth about nature, man, and God. They challenge you intellectually and form you professionally, preparing you to confront the social and economic problems facing society.
Our professors also help you apply the wisdom of the Church to all branches of knowledge and fields of study, from biology and mathematics to psychology, accounting, and social work. But what truly sets Franciscan’s professors apart from their peers is that they hold teaching and mentoring you as a sacred trust. They care not only about your GPA and your future career but about helping you become the man or woman God has called you to be from all eternity.
In Their Own Words
Dr. Dan Kuebler, Assistant Professor, Biology
“My job, as I see it, is to help educate the next generation of pro-life doctors, researchers, and scientists. Not just to give them the academic skills they need, but also the moral and ethical grounding that is essential if they are going to be lights to the world. It’s a phenomenal job. I still can’t believe they pay me to do this.”
Dr. Kathleen Spinnenweber, Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literature
“Besides the school’s Catholic faith, the focus Franciscan puts on the students is what attracted me here. I think for a professor, the student has to be the priority. I have other projects, but the students, the people I’m with, is what matters the most.”
Dr. Regis Martin, Professor of Theology
“What a wonderful job I have teaching theology to young people! It doesn’t, this side of Paradise, get much better than that.”
Dr. Jerry Jo Gilham, Associate Professor of Social Work
“The Christian faith of my students and their desire to help others are beautiful complements to each other, and that really excites me. They bring that passion, and we give them the professional skills.”
Dr. Joseph Almeida, Honors Program Director
“There’s a statement in Plato’s Republic that education is a way of turning the soul so that it is in the best position to perceive reality. That notion of education has never left me. It helps me see the pursuit of knowledge as a way of life that’s connected with the human soul. It’s not about information gathering or pragmatic success. It’s about becoming more human.”
Recent Faculty Highlights
- “The Problem of Unlimited Academic Freedom,” presentation by Professor Shawn Dougherty, Fine Arts Chair, First Catholic Theatre Conference, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.
- “Enhanced Mercury Wet Deposition in the Proximity of Coal Fired Utilities,” presentation by Dr. James Slater, Chemistry Chair, Ninth International Symposium on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, Guiyang, China.
- Kinship by Covenant (Yale University Press) by Dr. Scott Hahn, a revised, updated, and expanded version of his doctoral dissertation.
- Body-Self Dualism in Contemporary Ethics and Politics (Oxford University Press) by Dr. Patrick Lee, Professor of Philosophy, Franciscan University, and Dr. Robert George, Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University.
- The Evolution Controversy: A Survey of Competing Theories (Baker Academic) by Dr. Dan Kuebler, Associate Professor of Biology.
- Dionysius the Areopagite and the Neoplatonist Tradition: Despoiling the Hellenes (Ashgate Publishing) by Dr. Sarah K. Wear, Assistant Professor of Classics.
Meet Our Faculty
Read profiles of some of our remarkable professors.