2022 Conference

Dr. George Harne is the Executive Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Dr. Harne received his Ph.D. from Princeton University and received master’s degrees from Princeton, St. John’s College, and the University of Washington. While at Princeton, he was active in the Center for the Study of Religion and the Program in Hellenic Studies. Dr. Harne has published and presented papers on ancient, medieval and Renaissance music, as well as the contemporary philosophy of music.

Dr. Timothy P. O’Malley is director of education at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, where he also serves as the academic director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. At Notre Dame, Prof. O’Malley has a joint appointment in the Department of Theology where he teaches and researches in the areas of liturgical-sacramental theology, catechesis, theological aesthetics, and marriage/family. He is the author of seven books, most recently Becoming a Eucharistic People: The Hope and Promise of Parish Life (Ave Maria Press, 2022) and Real Presence: What Does It Mean and Why Does It Matter? (Ave Maria Press, 2021). Currently, Prof. O’Malley is working on a book on the Eucharistic shape of Catholic higher education with colleagues from Villanova University. In addition to his work at Notre Dame, Prof. O’Malley serves on the board of trustees mission committee at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX.

David Clayton is an internationally known artist, teacher, writer and broadcaster. His artistic training is in both the sacred art tradition of Byzantine iconography; and as a portrait painter in the style of Western classical naturalism, which he studied in Florence, Italy. He has written four books, two of which feature his art; and has illustrated another three written by other authors, one by Scott Hahn. His own books include The Way of Beauty – Liturgy, Education and Inspiration for Family, School and College, published in May 2015; and The Vision for You, How to Discover the Life You Were Made For, published in 2018. He is Provost of www.Pontifex.University, a canonically Catholic university faithful to the Magisterium, which offers online programs.

Dr. R. J. Snell is Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute and editor-in-chief of The Public Discourse. Prior to his appointment at the Witherspoon Institute, he was Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Philosophy Program at Eastern University and the Templeton Honors College.

Dr. David Corey is a Professor of Political Science with a focus in political philosophy at Baylor University. He is the author of two books, The Just War Tradition (with J. Daryl Charles) and The Sophists in Plato’s Dialogues. He is currently at work on a book about American domestic politics entitled The Politics of War and the Politics of Peace.

Father Reginald Lynch, O.P. entered the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2007, and was ordained a priest in 2013.  He earned a PhD in theology at the University of Notre Dame, with a major concentration in medieval theology and minor concentrations in patristics and philosophical theology.  He has written on topics in sacramental, systematic and historical theology in journals like The Thomist and Nova et Vetera.  His book, The Cleansing of the Heart: The Sacraments as Instrumental Causes in the Thomistic Tradition (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2017) received the Charles Cardinal Journet Prize in 2018. Currently, he is an assistant professor of historical and systematic theology at the Dominican House of Studies. He is also working on a book on the reception of Aquinas’ Eucharistic theology in the early modern period.

Jonathan Pidluzny joined ACTA in May, 2019, as the Director of Academic Affairs. He is responsible for developing and overseeing ACTA’s academic publications, expanding ACTA’s faculty network, and maximizing the effectiveness of ACTA’s outreach by working closely with trustees, faculty, and administrators on behalf of higher education reform. Prior to joining ACTA, Dr. Pidluzny was an associate professor of political science and the political science program coordinator at Morehead State University, where he won several awards for teaching excellence. A strong advocate of shared governance and prioritizing instructional spending in higher education budgeting, he served as the elected faculty regent on the institution’s governing board from 2017 to 2019. Dr. Pidluzny received his Ph.D. in political science at Boston College and holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Alberta. He is a 2006 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow whose research focuses on the social and civic prerequisites of liberal democracy—at home and abroad. He has recently published papers and book chapters on Alexis de Tocqueville, the American Founding, and the failure of the Arab Spring.

Margarita Mooney Suarez, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Yale University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Princeton University. Mooney Suarez’s work has appeared in publications such as Real Clear Policy, Scientific American, First Things, Hedgehog Review, National Catholic Register, Plough Magazine, Comment Magazine, Public Discourse, Church Life Journal and the Chronicle of Higher Education. She is the founder of Scala Foundation, and the author of The Love of Learning: Seven Dialogues on the Liberal Arts (Cluny Media, 2021).