Albert the Great Lecture

The Albertus Magnus Lecture is an annual lecture presented by the Niagara University Philosophy Department. 

Dr. John Heiser

Dr. Heiser taught in the Philosophy Department at Niagara University from 1978-1996. He specialized in Early Medieval Philosophy and Plotinus. He endowed a lecture series at Niagara, which was designed to bring in specialists from other universities to expand the philosophical conversation at Niagara and to help the students of Niagara seek meaning and understanding.

Albertus Magnus

Albertus Magnus ("Albert the Great") was born in Swabia in 1200. He studied at the University of Padua and entered the Dominican Order in 1223. In 1245, he became the first German to be appointed to the faculty of the University of Paris. While an important philosopher in his own right, he is most famous for the influence he had as the instructor of St. Thomas Aquinas, the cornerstone of the Catholic Intellectual tradition. The lecture is named for Albertus Magnus because of his great influence as a teacher upon his students.

The Lecture Series

• 2010-2011: Fr. Ronald McKinney, S. J., University of Scranton
• 2009-2010: Dr. Johnathan Sanford, Franciscan University of Steubenville. "How is a Friendship like Vincent and Louise's Possible? Aristotle, Aquinas, and the Christian Elevation of Pagan Friendship"
• 2008-2009: Dr. John Zeis, Canisius College
• 2007-2008: Dr. Alexander Pruss, Baylor University. "Cooperating with Evildoers"
• 2006-2007: Dr. David Hershenov
• 2005-2006: Dr. Patrick Tully, University of Scranton