Pope names scholars, including American, to pontifical academies

Published: 2003-10-31

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II named Kevin Ryan, founder of the Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character at Boston University's School of Education, to be a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. In the same Oct. 30 announcement, the pope named a Japanese Nobel laureate in chemistry, a Chinese Nobel winner in physics, a Greek biologist who studies malaria and a Spanish biologist whose research focuses on genetics to the older Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The academy, which traces its roots back to 1603, includes about 80 scientists from around the world. The members, many of whom are Nobel winners, are chosen for their excellence in science and mathematics, not on the basis of their religious affiliation. Pope John Paul instituted the academy for social sciences in 1994 to honor scholars in the field of social sciences, law, politics and economics and to form a body of experts that could advise the church on issues in those fields. Born in 1932, Ryan began his research in the field of education in the 1960s, focusing on moral education and the development of personality.

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