Onward: an Important Message from the Chair of the IACS Board of Trustees

Editor’s note: The message below from Michael P. Moreland, Chair of the IACS Board of Trustees, was originally sent to the IACS community on Jan. 2, 2023.

Friends,

I write to you today with important updates from the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC.

Last month, the Board of Trustees accepted the resignation of Rev. Dorian Llywelyn, S.J., as IACS president to take a new assignment in higher education from the Society of Jesus. We are grateful to Fr. Dorian for his 2 ½ years of service. Under his leadership, IACS launched new programs and widened its reach. We wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

Our board immediately met to discuss our Institute’s future. IACS trustees unanimously decided to start an immediate search for our next president. During the interim, IACS will be led by Executive Director Becky King Cerling, Ph.D., who will continue running day-to-day operations. IACS founder and President Emeritus Fr. James L. Heft, S.M., will continue to help with outreach to the Institute’s supporters. We are confident IACS will reach new heights in the months and years to come.

Our future is bright. With change come opportunities for new ideas, new energy and new areas for sustained growth. The Board of Trustees and IACS staff are fully committed to deepening our Institute’s impact and furthering its important mission of advancing Catholic ideas, scholarship and research. In an increasingly secular world, that work has never been more vital.

This month, we’ll welcome two leading scholars — Brandon Vaidyanathan, Ph.D. and Leo Guardado, Ph.D. — as they begin the IACS Hancock and DePaul Fellowships. In February, we’re hosting Pope Francis biographer and acclaimed Catholic journalist Austen Ivereigh in Los Angeles for an in-depth discussion with USC Chief Sustainability Officer Michael Dalrymple.

Later next year, we’ll welcome a new cohort of top young scholars from across the U.S. working in the arts to our Generations in Dialogue program. Rethinking Justice in Catholic Social Thought, meanwhile, will continue through 2023. More exciting events and programs will be announced in the months to come.

Since its founding in 1998, IACS has successfully promoted understanding across academic disciplines through the study and application of the Catholic intellectual tradition. We are proud stewards of that rich legacy, and look forward to ushering in a new era of research, innovation and discovery for our Institute. We have ambitious goals ahead — and are well positioned to achieve them.

As we look strategically to the future, our transition to new leadership will be collaborative and thorough. We will continue to provide updates as the international search for our Institute’s next president gets underway.

Your support is critical — and needed now more than ever. To learn how you can support IACS, visit: https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/support/

I wish you and your families a Happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Michael P. Moreland
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC