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about

Dr. John Joy

Dean of Faculty, Religion and Philosophy

“Classical education should open a student’s mind to asking perennial questions about ultimate realities. The great works of literature are great works of literature because they prompt you to ask those deeper questions. By reading them, you’re necessarily exposed to those questions and forced to try to wrestle with them in your own life.”

Dr. John Joy first joined the St. Ambrose faculty as ninth-grade religion teacher before taking on the role of Dean of Faculty. Before this, John was the Director of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Madison, as well as Senior Theologian to the Bishop. John regards Catholic education as essential to the New Evangelization.

John holds a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He also has a master’s and a licentiate from the International Theological Institute in Austria. He received his undergraduate degree in theology from Ave Maria College.

John is the managing editor for the Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine, which is in the process of publishing the complete works of Aquinas and Augustine in Latin and English. John is also a member of the Dialogos Institute, a group of Catholic theologians dedicated to exploring the intersection of Eastern and Western scholastic theology.

When not editing the works of Augustine and Aquinas, John loves watching and playing baseball with his family. John and his wife Lisa have nine children, three of whom are current Guardians.