Aristotle Papanikolaou

Aristotle Papanikolaou is Professor of Theology, Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, and the Co-director and Co-founder of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center. Professor Papanikolaou received the 2012 Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. In 2012-13, Papanikolaou was awarded a Sabbatical Grant for Researchers from the Louisville Institute to explore how Eastern Christian notions of virtue are relevant for illuminating both the plight and healing of combat veterans who experience trauma. Professor Papanikolaou’s project employs Michel Foucault’s notion of truth-telling to scrutinize and elucidate the Orthodox Christian concept of virtue ethics. The end result of this research will be an innovative and constructive vision for understanding post-traumatic stress syndrome in combat veterans.

Papanikolaou earned his BA, Summa Cum Laude, from Fordham University in 1988. He then graduated valedictorian with an M.Div. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, where he later served from 1995-2000 as Registrar and as Assistant Professor of Ethics and Theology. He received his PhD in 1998 from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is the author of numerous articles and reviews and of two monographs: Being with God: Trinity, Apophaticism and Divine-Human Communion (2006) and The Mystical as Political: Democracy and Non-Radical Orthodoxy (2012). He is co-editor with George E. Demacopoulos of Orthodox Readings of Augustine (2008) and Orthodox Constructions of the West (2013), and he is co-editor with Demacopoulos of the Fordham University Press series, Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Thought, and with Elizabeth Prodromou of Thinking through Faith: New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars (2008).

Professor Papanikolaou is an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.