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 practiced architecture for over forty years after graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1956. Burgee joined in partnership with Philip Johnson in 1968 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. 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 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. Mr. Burgee 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. 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, and as executive secretary and director of communications for the Capuchin Province of St. Augustine in Pittsburgh. 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 in 1988, appointed Archbishop of Denver in 1997, and then Archbishop of Philadelphia in 2011.

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 was a Professor of Philosophy and the Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he taught from 1955 until his death in 2010. He served as director of the Jacques Maritain Center at the University of Notre Dame, and previously as 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 was the founder of Catholic Dossier and the International Catholic University, and co-founder of Crisis magazine. He 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 was also author of the Father Dowling mysteries, the Andrew Broom mysteries, the Sister Mary Teresa mysteries, and various other works of fiction. Professor McInerny served as president of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, The Metaphysical Society, the American Maritain Society, and the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, and was a fellow of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. President George W. Bush 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 theory and practice by building, teaching and writing. In the year 1979–80 he was a Rome Prize Fellow in Architecture at the American Academy in Rome. His projects included 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 the principles of classical architecture to the curriculum of the School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame. 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 published Thomas Gordon Smith’s book Vitruvius on Architecture in 2003.

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 twenty years 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 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.