History

There is a long tradition in the Dominican Order of providing intellectual bridges between the study of nature and the study of God. The first and most impressive embodiment of this engagement between the natural and supernatural is the life and work of St. Albert the Great, patron saint of scientists. The work of his student, St. Thomas Aquinas supported this engagement as well, if with less active and explicit study of nature.

The Angelicum has played an important role in the Dominican tradition of engagement between Science and Religion, particularly in the early 20th century, most notably in the work of Aniceto Fernandez Alonso, O.P., a long time professor of philosophy here, and Humbert Kane, O.P., who received his Doctorate here before founding the Albert Magnus Lyceum in the United States.

As we endeavour to continue the Dominican project of engagement between Science and Religion here at the Angelicum, we wanted to recall and make known the contributions of some of our brethren with a collection of biographies and selected works of theirs.

Aniceto Fernandez Alonso, O.P. (1895-1981)
Professor of Physical Sciences and Cosmology at the Angelicum from 1932-1950.

William Humbert Kane, O.P. (1901-1970)
Received his Doctorate from the Angelicum in 1930. Taught philosophy at the Dominican Studium in River Forest, Illinois and founded the Albertus Magnus Lyceum there. Founder of “River Forest Thomism”.

William Augustine Wallace, O.P. (1918-2015)
Professor of Philosophy and History of Science in the United States. Founding member of the Albertus Magnus Lyceum and contributor to Thomistic engagement with Science.