DOMINIC A. AQUILA

Catholic scholar, editor, and academic leader with over 40 years of experience in higher education, scholarly publishing, and evangelization through liberal arts. Former Editor-in-Chief of Sapientia Press and Book Review Editor for the Catholic Social Science Review. Extensive editorial experience including manuscript review, developmental editing, indexing, and copyediting. Committed to the mission of Word on Fire and the transmission of the Catholic intellectual tradition.

• Editor-in-Chief, Sapientia Press, Ave Maria College, 01/01/00 - 12/31/02, Directed editorial and production operations for theological and philosophical titles, Managed peer review, indexing, manuscript revision, and acquisitions
• Book Review Editor and Editor, Catholic Social Science Review, 01/01/96 - 12/31/00; 01/01/19 - 12/31/21, Oversaw peer review, edited and indexed volumes, and maintained editorial standards
• Peer Reviewer and Evaluator, Wadsworth Publishing, Norton, and USDOE, 01/01/91 - Present, Evaluated manuscripts, textbooks, and grant-funded educational projects
• Author, The Church and the Age of Enlightenment (Ave Maria Press, 2022), "Purgatorio: A Liturgy of Forgiveness" in Dante and the Other (Taylor & Francis, 2021), "Music as a Liberal Art," Religions (2022)

• Lay Dominican
• Practicing Catholic with deep knowledge of the Catechism, Doctors of the Church, and papal documents
• Regular presenter at Catholic conferences including Notre Dame, Ciceronian Society, and the Society for Catholic Liturgy
• Founding board member, Wyoming Catholic College
• Fluent reader of Latin, German, Italian, and French

• Fellow of the Inklings Project, The McGrath Institute, The University of Notre Dame

• Nominated for the nominated for the 2024-2025 Saint Thomas Aquinas Excellence in Teaching Award

• Nominated for the University of St. Thomas’s Edith Stein Excellence in Research Award (2023)

• Spes Nostrae Award, The National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools (2007)

• Fides et Ratio Foundation Fellow, July 2006.

• Distinguished Service Award, Liberal Arts Network for Development (LAND), June 2004.

• Distinguished Service Award, Schoolcraft College Writing Fellows, January 2003.

• Fellow in the Liberals Arts Certification Pilot Project of the American Academy of Liberal Education and the Learning Anytime Anywhere Initiative of the U.S. Department of Education, 2003.

• Franciscan University Junior Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, 1999

• Franciscan University Summer Grant Award, 1998, for research on Dr. Herbert Ratner

• The American Historical Association's Albert J. Beveridge Grant for Research in the History of the Western Hemisphere, 1989

• David Parker Memorial Prize in History, University of Rochester, 1986

• University of Rochester Graduate Assistantship, 1985-1988

• Kurtz Scholarship, New York University, 1977

• New York State Regents Scholarship, 1973-1977

• Juilliard School Scholarship, 1973-1977

• Knowledge Management Institute (KMI), July 2022. Certified Knowledge Manager.

• "Dark Woods and Deep Language: The Forest as Linguistic Threshold in Tolkien and Dante," Inklings Quarterly February 20, 2025
• “Interplay of Aesthetics & Ethics in Dante’s Purgatorio,.” Academic paper delivered at the September 26-27, 2024 Society for Catholic Liturgy Annual Conference at St Mary’s Seminary, Houston, TX.
• “Law and Empire in Dante’s Commedia,” academic paper delivered with Joseph A. Aquila at the February-March 2024 Ciceronian Society Conference in Plano, TX, March 2, 2024
• “Natality and Human Action in Dante’s Commedia,” Paper delivered at the November 2022 De Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, The University of Notre Dame
• “Music as a Liberal Art: The Poetry of the Universe,” Religions 13: 792. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13090792
• The Church and the Age of Enlightenment (1648-1848): Faith, Science, and the Challenge of Secularism. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2022).
• Delivered the 2021 Dantedì lecture on March 25, 2021 in honor of the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri, sponsored by the Italian Consulate of Houston and the Italian Cultural and Community Center. Title: “Out of the Dark Wood: Dante’s Relevance for the 21st Century.