HTI Alumni

Field(s) of Study: Ethics & Religion and Society 

After completing a degree in economics and environmental thought and practice at the University of Virginia, Liam spent five years working in small-scale forestry and green construction. His hands-on work to address environmental problems only made more apparent his interest in the unavoidable and important ethical questions that the environment and economy raise for contemporary society. To pursue these questions, Liam completed an MTS and PhD at the University of Notre Dame. His dissertation recovers theological and ethical principles of property that first emerge in the early church, are systematized in the scholastic era, and continue to influence liberation theology and Catholic social teaching today. A foundational question for both environmental and economic ethics, Liam will continue to pursue his research on property, bringing the tradition he recovered in his dissertation into more direct conversation with contemporary Christian ethics, political philosophy, and political economy. Alongside his research, Liam teaches moral theology to seminarians, religious, and lay students at Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary, in Mount Angel, Oregon. Here he works to help the students understand and embrace the rich tradition of Catholic moral theology, grounded in God’s call to friendship and beatitude, so that it might enrich the life of the church and its dialogue with the world and facilitate the unquenchable thirst of each person for meaning and happiness.

CV