Monsignor John R. Portman Chair in Roman Catholic Theology

The Portman Chair was established in the department in the year 2000 through an anonymous donor's generous bequest. It was named after Msgr. John R. Portman, who served as the founding chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies from 1967 to 1974. Msgr. Portman has been a pioneer in ecumenical dialogue, and served as pastor of the Church of the Immaculata and in other parishes in San Diego for over 30 years after leaving the University of San Diego. He was recently (fall 2006) honored with the title of Professor Emeritus.

In announcing the Portman Chair in the spring of 2000, then president Alice Hayes said, "The university is grateful the generous donor who funded the chair honoring a distinguished former member of our faculty. It will be a strong and palpable symbol of the depth of the university's commitment to Catholic theology as an academic discipline and another sign of the Catholic character of the university."

The Portman Endowment allows the department to bring an eminent theologian to the University of San Diego for one or two semesters. As envisioned by the donor and Msgr. Portman, chairholders are to be distinguished theologians who think from within the Roman Catholic tradition while exploring and expressing the tradition in contemporary contexts. During his or her tenure at the university, the Portman Professor delivers the Annual Msgr. John R. Portman Lecture in Roman Catholic Theology.

The chair as it has played out to date has been, in the department’s view, immensely successful. Students, faculty, administrators, and the entire university community have benefited from having senior theologians present to us in the classroom and at the lecture podium, down the corridor, in social engagements, and in mentoring and advising roles. The professorship has raised our national, indeed international, profile and created a circle of friends in the highest levels of theological scholarship, eminent colleagues who consider themselves close to the department and the university.

The Rev. Thomas O'Meara has been appointed to the Portman Chair for the academic year 2008-09. On November 18, Fr. O'Meara delivered the ninth Portman Lecture: "The Ministry of the Pope: Challenges and Opportunities."


Previous holders of the Msgr. John R. Portman Chair of Roman Catholic Systematic Theology:

2007-08 Portman Lecturer

Rev. Dr. Peter C. Phan, Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University

View the 2008 Portman Lecture

2006-07

Dr. Thomas F. O'Meara, O.P., Professor Emeritus, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame

2005-2006

Dr. Mary E. Hines, Professor of Theology, Department of Religious Studies, Emmanuel College

2003-2004, 2004-2005

Rev. Dr. Berard L. Marthaler, OFM, Professor Emeritus and former Warren-Blanding Professor of Religion, School of Theology and Religious Studies, The Catholic University of America

2002-2003

Prof. Dr. Peter Hünermann, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Tübingen

2000-2001, 2001-02

Most Rev. John R. Quinn, Archbishop Emeritus of San Francisco