St. Ignatius Loyola Chair

William Rehg, S.J.

William Rehg, S.J. has joined Fordham as the St. Ignatius Loyola Chair in the Philosophy Department for the 2025-2026 academic year. Br. Bill will present the St. Ignatius Loyola Chair lecture in-person on the following dates:

  • Tuesday, October 14, 2025 from 4:30 - 6:00 PM Rose Hill, McShane Campus Center
  • Tuesday, April 14, 2026 from 4:30 - 6:00 PM Rose Hill, McShane Campus Center

Synopsis of Fall 2025 Lecture

Hope is becoming increasingly important in today’s world. With his 2019 history of the millennia-long dialogue between faith and reason, German philosopher-sociologist Jürgen Habermas aims
to encourage the hope that a more just and peaceful world is possible through further dialogue. In the Fall Public Lecture I argue that Habermas’s vision describes a task for which Jesuit universities are especially well suited. But Habermas overlooks the ways in which climate change makes such dialogue increasingly unlikely. Is not a pessimistic outlook more realistic? That question challenges us to think more deeply about what hope in today’s world means.

Biography

William Rehg, S.J., is Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University. He is the author of Insight and Solidarity: The Discourse Ethics of Jürgen Habermas (1994) and Cogent Science in Context: The Science Wars, Argumentation Theory, and Habermas(2009). More recently, he has written on applied ethics and the role of hope in Habermas’s philosophy of religion. He has been a member of the Consortium for Human Flourishing since 2018.

The St. Ignatius Loyola Chair offers Jesuits from the USA and around the world the opportunity  to serve as “a distinguished professor who would contribute to and enhance the Catholic and Jesuit tradition of Fordham University.” Qualified and invited Jesuits hold the chair for 1-2 semesters of an academic year and are hosted by a university department or school.

During each semester of residency, the Loyola Chair Jesuit teaches one course (graduate or undergraduate) and delivers one public lecture at both the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses. The host department or school provides office space, as well as the support of a graduate assistant. Funding provided by the Chair covers (1) Per Diem at Spellman Hall Jesuit Community, (2) a salary paid to the recipient’s community, and (3) research/travel funds.

Past recipients include: