Providence, RI -- The Very Rev. Aidan Nichols, O.P., a renowned historical theologian, has been named the second recipient of the Rev. Robert Randall Distinguished Professorship in Christian Culture at Providence College.

Father Nichols, who served until late December as the prior of the Dominican Priory of St. Michael in Cambridge, England, is an affiliated lecturer at the University of Cambridge.

The author of 30 books and more than 70 articles, he is considered "the most prolific writer of theology in the English language in the world today," according to the John Paul II Institute for Marriage & Family in Melbourne, Australia, where he has taught. 

In addition to teaching a course in the Providence College's Liberal Arts Honors Program, Father Nichols will deliver two public lectures during his spring semester stay at the College:

• Wednesday, February 23, at 7:00 p.m., Smith Center for the Arts/Concert Hall
  The Order of Preachers and Art: The Dominicans of L'Art sacré ," will focus on the attempts of Dominicans to revitalize sacred art in France in the 20th century.
• Wednesday, April 13, at 7:00 p.m., Feinstein Academic Center, Room 400
  Craft or Connoisseurship: The Uses of Jacques Maritain's Aesthetics," will explore how Maritain's Art and Scholasticismwas used in England for completely different purposes by two notable English Catholics-Eric Gill, a social activist, sculptor, and type designer, and David Jones, a poet and painter. 

A distinguished scholar, Father Nichols has published on numerous topics in theology including systematic, sacramental, and ecumenical theology. He is currently working on a fourth volume of An Introduction to Balthasar. A Swiss theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar lived from 1905 to 1988. The honors course Father Nichols is teaching at the College this semester presents an overview of the writings of the theologian.

He also has recently completed a book about Russian theologian Sergey Nikolayevich Bulgakov and is at work on a book considering the poems and prose of Gerard Manley Hopkins from a theological perspective.

His recently published books include Catholic Thought Since the Enlightenment: A Survey (1998), Christendom Awake: On Re-energizing the Church in Culture (1999), and Discovering Aquinas (2002).

Born in 1948 in Lytham St. Anne's, in northwest England, Father Nichols entered the Dominican Order in 1970 and was ordained a priest in 1976. He attained his bachelor's and master's degrees at Oxford. He also holds a licentiate in sacred theology (S.T.L.) and a doctorate in theology. He has taught at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (The Angelicum) in Rome, Italy, and at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.

He also has served as chaplain at Edinburgh University in Scotland and as assistant chaplain at Cambridge University.

The Rev. Robert Randall Distinguished Professorship in Christian Culture - Providence College's first endowed chair - was established in 2002. It was first awarded in the Fall 2002 semester to Rev. Fergus Kerr, O.P., a gifted teacher and scholar then serving as regent of Blackfriars Hall at Oxford University, England, who is now director of the Aquinas Institute at Blackfriars Hall.

The chair is named for a priest, scholar, and artist who served as a member of the Providence College faculty for more than 25 years. Father Randall taught English, theology, and courses in the Development of Western Civilization Program. The professorship exemplifies the commitment to educational excellence and Christian values that defined Father Randall's life as an educator and priest.

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