About the Institute

The Institute for Sacred Architecture is a non-profit organization made up of architects, clergy, educators and others interested in the discussion of issues related to contemporary Catholic architecture.

John Burgee, FAIA

John Burgee has made a significant contribution to architecture over the past 35 years, producing many projects that have changed the direction of architectural thinking. In 1968 Burgee joined in partnership with Philip Johnson to produce architecture at the forefront of building design. Their distinctive designs for the IDS Center in Minneapolis, the Pennzoil Place in Houston, and the AT&T World Headquarters in New York became landmarks of contemporary architecture.

The AT&T World Headquarters in New York, with its stone cladding and distinctive broken pediment, revived the use of historical styles. Mr. Burgee’s additional contributions are particularly evident in the National Center for Performing Arts in Bombay, the Museum of South Texas, the Historical Museum and Art Museum at the Dade County Cultural Center, the Peoria Civic Center, the Atlantic Center, 190 South LaSalle Street, and the Transco Tower and Park.

Mr. Burgee’s work has been professionally recognized with two Honor awards from the AIA for the IDS Center and the Pennzoil Place (which also received the 1978 Reynolds Prize). In 1983 the University of Notre Dame awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering, and in 1984 the Illinois Council of the AIA recognized him as the first recipient of the Chicago Architecture Award.

Mr. Burgee has served on numerous boards, both civic and architectural, including the Architectural League of New York, Lenox Hill Hospital, Columbia University’s Master of Sciences Program in Real Estate Development, the University of Notre Dame, Parsons School of Design, and the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic District. He was also selected to be co-chairman of the Architectural Committee of the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Centennial Commission, leading the project’s restoration and design. He is also a past president and chairman of the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M., Cap.

Archbishop Chaput joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, St. Augustine Province, in 1965. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from St. Fidelis College Seminary in Herman, Pennsylvania, in 1967, Archbishop Chaput completed Studies in Psychology at Catholic University in Washington D.C., in 1969. He earned a Master of Arts in Religious Education from Capuchin College in Washington D.C., in 1970 and was ordained to the priesthood on August 29, 1970.

Archbishop Chaput received a Master of Arts in Theology from the University of San Francisco in 1971. He served as an instructor in theology and spiritual director at St. Fidelis from 1971–1974, and as executive secretary and director of communications for the Capuchin Province of St. Augustine in Pittsburgh from 1974–1977.

In 1977, Archbishop Chaput became pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Thornton, Colorado, and vicar provincial for the Capuchin Province of Mid-America. He was named secretary and treasurer for the province in 1980, and became chief executive and provincial minister three years later.

Archbishop Chaput was ordained Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, on July 26, 1988. Pope John Paul II appointed him Archbishop of Denver on February 18, 1997.

Very Rev. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B.

Rev. Folsom is a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, Saint Meinrad, Indiana, and professor of liturgy at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome, where he served as Pro-Preside from 1997–2000. He is the founding prior of the Monastero di San Benedetto, a new Benedictine monastery in Norcia, Italy, the birthplace of Saints Benedict and Scholastica. Rev. Folsom is also a member of the Society for Catholic Liturgy, and currently serves as an SCL board member.

Ralph McInerny, Ph.D.

Professor McInerny is Professor of Philosophy and Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he has taught since 1955. He is currently director of the Jacques Maritain Center at the University of Notre Dame, and was a past director of the Medieval Institute.

Professor McInerny presented the Gifford Lectures in Glasgow, later published under the name Characters in Search of Their Author. He is also the founder of Catholic Dossier and the International Catholic University, and co-founder of Crisis magazine. He has authored many non-fiction books, including Aquinas and Analogy, The Question of Christian Ethics, Aquinas on Human Action, and the Penguin Classic: Thomas Aquinas Selected Writings. He is also author of the Father Dowling mysteries, the Andrew Broom mysteries, the Sister Mary Teresa mysteries, and various other works of fiction.

Professor McInerny has served as president of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, The Metaphysical Society, the American Maritain Society, and the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, and is also a fellow of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. President Bush recently appointed Ralph McInerny to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Thomas Gordon Smith, AIA

Thomas Gordon Smith established his architectural practice in 1980 and has continually expanded his understanding of theory and practice by building, teaching and writing. He became fully committed to the profession of classical architecture during 1979–80 as a Rome Prize Fellow in Architecture at the American Academy in Rome. His projects culminated with the façade and exhibition on the "Strada Novissima" at the architectural exhibition: The Presence of the Past International Architectural Exhibition at the 1980 Venice Biennale. His book, Classical Architecture: Rule and Invention, advocates learning the classical language for application in current architecture. From 1989 to 1998, Smith, as chairman, applied his perspective on classical architecture to the curriculum of the School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame subsequently became the primary school for the study of classical and traditional architecture at the turn of the twenty-first century.

Thomas Gordon Smith’s role in contemporary architecture is reflected in more than twenty museum exhibitions, in extensive publications of his buildings, and in scholarly publications of his research. Richard John’s monograph on his architectural work, Thomas Gordon Smith and the Revival of Classical Architecture, was published in the New Architecture Series by Papadakis in December 2001. Monacelli Press will publish Thomas Gordon Smith’s book, Vitruvius on Architecture, in Spring 2003. This book promotes classical architecture today by illustrating and discussing Vitruvius, a Roman architect who wrote a prescription for the renewal of architecture 2000 years ago.

Duncan Stroik, AIA

Director and Editor

Duncan Stroik’s architectural practice grows out of a commitment to the principles of classical architecture and urbanism. For over a decade he has focused on the design of ecclesiastical, civic, residential and collegiate buildings, which combine a passion for durability, function and beauty. Professor Stroik’s education and career have closely paralleled the evolution of the international classical movement, and over the past decade his work has been instrumental in the new renaissance of sacred architecture.

Professor Stroik received his architectural education from the University of Virginia and Yale University. Following graduation, he served as a project designer for the architect Allan Greenberg, with whom he designed a number of prestigious civic, institutional, collegiate and residential projects. In 1990 Stroik was invited to help form and implement a new curriculum in classical architecture at the University of Notre Dame, later hailed by the New York Times as the “Athens of the new movement.” He is also the principal of Duncan G. Stroik Architect, LLC.