IRVING, Texas (Dec. 20, 2023) — After having served as interim dean of the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts since January of 2023, Professor of Politics Richard J. Dougherty, MA ’89 PhD ’93, has been appointed dean.

Dougherty is the first graduate of the Braniff School to serve as dean.

“For the past year, Dr. Dougherty has served with excellence in the role of interim dean of the Braniff Graduate School. As a longtime faculty member and chair of the Politics Department, he has earned the appreciation of his colleagues and students and is well prepared to lead the Braniff Graduate School into a bright future,” said Provost Matthias Vorwerk, PhD. “I am grateful for his willingness to accept the challenge and look forward to working with him in the role of dean toward continued growth of our graduate programs.”

Along with teaching in the Department of Politics, Dougherty serves as director of the Graduate Program in Politics and of the Institute of Philosophic Studies, the university’s PhD-granting program. An expert in medieval political philosophy, Dougherty’s recent publications include a contribution to the awarded collection Augustine’s Political Thought, which he also edited. His research and teaching interests also include the American presidency and Catholic political and social thought. He is a contributor to The Oxford Guide to the Historical Reception of Augustine, Divus Thomas, The Encyclopedia of the American Presidency and the most recent volume of Studia Patristica. In 2020, he was recognized as a Haggerty Teaching Excellence Award recipient.

“I am honored to be asked to serve as dean of the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts,” Dougherty said. “Braniff has recently enjoyed two decades of superb leadership, by Dr. David Sweet and Dr. Joshua Parens, and I hope to perpetuate that excellent work. Adherence to the mission of the Braniff Graduate School’s commitment to the revival of liberal education and the recovery of the Christian intellectual tradition is a great service to the academy, to society and to the church.”

About the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts

The Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts is committed to the renewal of the Western heritage of liberal arts and the Christian intellectual tradition. Through master’s programs in American studies, art, classics, classical education, education, English, humanities, philosophy, politics, psychology and theology, students receive an academically rigorous education for virtuous leadership. At the doctoral level, the Institute of Philosophic Studies offers degrees in literature, philosophy and politics rooted in a Great Books core curriculum. For more information, visit udallas.edu/braniff.

About the University of Dallas

The University of Dallas is the premier Catholic liberal arts university in the country, known for its rigorous undergraduate Core Curriculum and robust graduate and professional programs in business, ministry, education and the humanities. According to national rankings, the University of Dallas has one of America’s most challenging, comprehensive undergraduate interdisciplinary programs, offered at an excellent value to some of the happiest students in the country. With campuses in Texas and Italy, UD stands apart as a thriving community of learners committed to an education that forms students intellectually, socially and spiritually for a life well-lived. For more information, visit udallas.edu.