Regis College is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Gerard Ryan, S.J., as the Scarboro Missions Chair in Inter-religious Dialogue and Director of Msgr. John Fraser Centre for Practical Theology for a three-year term.

Professor Ryan joined the Regis College and the Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology in 2020 after completing his doctoral studies in the Department of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford. His studies were supervised by Professors Werner G. Jeanrond and Graham Ward. Before arriving at Regis, Ryan was a Visiting Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin. His current research explores recognition theories and vulnerability studies as resources for a theological understanding of mutual accompaniment. His numerous publications and conference presentations include a recent monograph, Mutual Accompaniment as Faith-Filled Living: Recognition of the Vulnerable Other (Routledge, Taylor & Francis, 2021), and a new volume in progress expected in 2025 Ecological Accompaniment in an Age of Loneliness: New Landscapes in Practical Theology. In 2021, Ryan and Regis St. Michael’s Professor John Berkman were awarded a grant from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to foster dialogue between scientists and theologians and integrate science into the curriculum. Building on this work, Ryan secured an additional AAAS grant in 2024, focusing on the intersection of climate change and theological education and investigating the pastoral impact of forest fires on faith-based and secular communities across Canada.

Regis College is the Jesuit School of Theology at the University of Toronto and collaborates with the University of St. Michael’s College to operate the Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology. For more information, contact regis.presidentsoffice@utoronto.ca.