In his August 26 post our good friend Dr. Mark Johnson of Marquette University announced that he would be transferring the maintenance of Thomistica.net to The Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal of Ave Maria University. We would like to take this occasion to thank Mark for all his great work and to introduce readers to the Center as well as say something about our plans for Thomistica.net’s future.

In 2002 Dr. Michael Dauphinais and Dr. Matthew Levering founded The Aquinas Center.  The Center has since played an important role in the life of the Graduate Program in Theology and the University. 

The founding vision of the Center stems from an interest in Aquinas’s theology and philosophy and a desire to support projects that involve scholars from colleges and universities around the world. The Aquinas Center hopes to contribute to the development of a vibrant theological and philosophical renaissance.

In pursuit of this aim, The Aquinas Center hosts international conferences on the thought of Aquinas, grants annual awards for superlative books and dissertations written on the thought of Aquinas, and publishes substantial volumes on Aquinas’ thought.  These volumes include, to date, Reading John with St. Thomas (CUA Press), Aquinas the Augustinian (CUA Press), Rediscovering Aquinas and the Sacraments (Hillenbrand Books), Reading Romans with St. Thomas (in preparation), and a forthcoming volume on the role of philosophy in theological education in honor of Ralph McInerny. 

Mark has been a frequent participant at the conferences and contributor to the volumes mentioned above.  Mark’s work in founding, organizing, and supporting Thomistica.net for nearly a decade so closely intersects with the vision and purpose of The Aquinas Center that when Mark hinted at the possibility of closing down Thomistica.net, it was a very easy and logical decision to integrate the site with the broader work of The Aquinas Center. 

Our primary vision for the future of Thomistica.net is mostly to continue along the same lines that the site followed under Mark’s tutelage.  Mark has agreed to stay involved both behind the scenes and as an occasional contributor. Many of the previous contributors will continue to post on the site along with new contributors, so our readers can expect both continuity and novelty. We hope to enhance the resources that Mark has already provided, especially in regard to links, book suggestions, and documents. We would also like to include more “opinion” pieces alongside the information items.

We may, of course, on occasion announce news and events pertaining to the Graduate Program in Theology at Ave Maria and The Aquinas Center, something that Mark was already in the habit of doing. 

We are deeply grateful to Mark for his pioneering work on Thomistica.net and for trusting us to continue this magnificent project of his. It is truly an honor to do so. 

Roger W. Nutt, Editor

Joseph G. Trabbic, Assistant Editor