Specialisations: philosophical ethics, systematic theology, New Testament.
Research languages: Greek, Latin, French, German.
Dissertation:‘Historical Consciousness’ in American Catholic
Moral Theology Since Vatican II (University Microfilms, Ann Arbor).
A systematic study of the types of ‘historical consciousness’ in Christian
theology and ethics, from early Christianity through the western tradition, focusing
especially on contemporary American Catholic moral theology.
An analysis of how historicity has affected Catholic natural law ethics and moral norms;
the use of Scripture in moral argument; the ‘distinctiveness’ of Christian
ethics as against ‘human’ ethics; and the social ethics and teaching authority
of the Church in secular society.
Master of Arts, Theology — University of Notre Dame
Bachelor of Arts — Seattle University
Summa cum laude · Honors Program · European History
Placed in the ‘A’ stream on the entrance examination and enrolled in the
Classical Curriculum — Latin and Greek, the languages that later carried the doctoral
research. First Place, Impromptu Speaking, five-state tournament at Gonzaga University.
Editor of the yearbook, The Echo.
Seattle Preparatory School. Photograph by Denise Williams, used with permission.
Certificate in Christianity and Culture
— Christian Commonwealth Institute
Universidad de María Cristina, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain
Now the Real Centro Universitario Escorial-María Cristina.
Military service
United States Navy — Vietnam era
USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) · USS Constellation (CVA-64)
Honorable discharge.
Clinical ethics training
Trained as a clinical ethics fellow with Dr John C. Fletcher, Chief
Bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, and with Dr Max Boverman, NIH Liaison
Psychiatrist, prior to formal appointment as Clinical Ethics Consultant by the University of
Virginia Health Sciences Center.
Fellowships, honours and awards
The Sir Raphael Cilento Oration
Invited annual oration · Royal Australian College of Medical
Administrators, Queensland
‘Value Based Resource Allocation: Discerning Use of Finite Resources To Meet
Infinite Needs’
Faculty Service Award
University of Nebraska Medical Center
“In Gratitude for Establishing and Directing The Ethics Consultation Service at
University Hospital.”
Visiting Fellow in Medical Humanities
Medical College of Pennsylvania
A residency in clinical participation and seminar teaching covering allocation and rationing
of health care resources, the theological dimensions of suffering, cultural and religious
aspects of health care, care for terminally ill patients, neonatal and paediatric medicine,
biomedical research and experimentation, informed consent and decisional capacity, and
emergency medicine.
Clinical participation included daily working rounds in medicine, surgery, paediatrics and
obstetrics; neonatal and cardiac intensive care; Institutional Review Board meetings;
psychiatric case conferences; veterans’ hospital rounds; skilled nursing facilities;
and mentored observation of surgical procedures.
Faculty Development Grant in Philosophical Ethics
National Endowment for the Humanities
Richard M. Weaver Fellowship for Advanced Studies in Philosophy
Intercollegiate Studies Institute · held at the University of Notre Dame
Colorado Trial Lawyers Association Annual Meeting
Compensatory contribution to the Make-A-Wish Foundation
For ‘Ethical Dimensions of Managed Care: Medico-Legal Concerns’.
Alpha Sigma Nu
National Jesuit University Academic Honor Society
Elected on Seattle University Honors Program and History Department faculty selection.
Professional memberships
Australasian Bioethics Association
Catholic Moral Theology Association of Australia and New Zealand
