Australian Catholic University has received its largest ever pledged bequest for theology and philosophy, an extraordinary gift worth more than $US10 million.
This transformative endowment will establish the Ray L. Hart Centre for Philosophy of Religion.
The centre will bring together leading researchers, expand opportunities for global impact, and help form the next generation of scholars. It has been made possible through a pledged bequest from Ray L Hart, professor emeritus of Philosophy of Religion and Theology at Boston University.
ACU vice-chancellor and president Zlatko Skrbis said the generous bequest would help shape scholarship at ACU for generations to come.
“This pledged bequest is an act of remarkable generosity that will transform opportunities for our students and researchers,” Professor Skrbis said.
“This is a defining moment for the university and we are deeply honoured to steward Professor Hart’s legacy.”
Professor Hart’s most recent academic appointment before his retirement was at Boston University’s School of Theology, where he served as chair, director and dean.
Over the course of a 60-year academic career he received countless honours and awards, led the founding of over a dozen religious studies departments across the United States, and served as president and journal editor at the American Academy of Religion.
“What impresses me about ACU is the strength and success of its commitment to theology and philosophy,” Professor Hart said.
“It is most important to me that students in future generations be able, as I was, to ask and address fundamental questions of their own existence and experience with the help of key texts from the unfinished histories of philosophy and theology.
“What I can no longer do as an individual I must entrust to ACU as an institution, and I have every confidence that it will continue to give students rich opportunities to learn and to think deeply in this way.”
Professor Hart said plans to establish a research centre and library in his name with a strong connection to ACU’s Rome campus represented a full-circle moment.
The Centre’s inaugural director will be Professor Garth Green, who joins ACU’s School of Philosophy as the Ray L. Hart Professor of Philosophy of Religion, based at the Melbourne campus.
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ACU to establish Ray L. Hart Centre for Philosophy of Religion with historic bequest (ACU )
