Professor of Philosophy appointed Executive Dean of the College of Philosophy and Theology

The Board of Trustees of The University of Notre Dame Australia has appointed Professor Hayden Ramsay as the Executive Dean of the University’s National College of Philosophy and Theology. Professor Ramsay will add this new title to his already extensive Curriculum Vitae. He also works in the Cardinal’s Office and is Professor of Philosophy at John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family Melbourne. Prof Ramsay was born in Scotland and grew up there, leaving when he was aged 30. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, to Masters and PhD level, and also spent many years there learning how to teach philosophy. He taught initially at the University of Edinburgh and University of Stirling. In 1994 Prof Ramsay moved to Australia and in 2004 he moved to Sydney, following appointments in the Office of the Archbishop of Melbourne and at the Catholic Theological College, Melbourne. He also taught philosophy at the Universities of Melbourne and La Trobe. He has a special interest in Catholic philosophy, and in debate between Catholic and secular moral thinkers. His recent research and publications have included works on faith and reason, leisure, privacy, and medieval philosophical ideas.Prof Ramsay said, “In the past, Catholic philosophical tradition, and in particular the medieval period, was often ignored. Today, the thought of St Thomas Aquinas and other like thinkers, and their modern inheritors and defenders is cutting edge. Notre Dame is firmly behind the best and most up-to-date work in Catholic philosophy, theology and ethics. With our famous Core Curriculum we aim to excite our students about this wonderful and vital inheritance.” Prof Ramsay will oversee the curriculum and management of the Notre Dame’s College of Philosophy and Theology and its constituent academic schools on the Fremantle and Sydney campuses.End