the electives we offer—our priority is to offer
an education that’s rooted in the realities of
life worldwide.
”
Rev. Kail C. Ellis, o.s.a., ph.d.
DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES
On an autumn day in 1958, Rev. Kail Ellis, O. S.A.,
then a 17-year-old, joined a handful of
passengers who boarded the freighter
Cleopatra bound for Lebanon. “I’d never
traveled outside the state of New York, let alone
overseas,” he remembers. An avid follower
of international affairs, he had spent years
appealing to his parents for permission to
study in his ancestral homeland. His father,
who had immigrated from Lebanon, waved to
his son as the Cleopatra edged away from
port. When the voyage was over, Father Ellis
disembarked into the 1958 Lebanon Crisis.
U.S. troops were on the ground to quell
tensions between Lebanon and an Egypt/Syria
coalition, and to prevent a civil war between
Lebanese Christians and Muslims. Fortunately,
peace was swiftly secured. Although Father
Ellis spent the next year in a tranquil Lebanon,
the crisis was his first experience with war. It
shaped his mission as an Augustinian, a
scholar and a leader.
After Father Ellis returned home, he earned his
undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees
in political science and was ordained. As part
of his doctoral program at The Catholic
University of America, Father Ellis took courses
at Georgetown University and was inspired by
the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
there—the first of its kind in the nation.
Father Ellis came to Villanova in 1979. In 1983,
he founded the Villanova Center for Arab and
Islamic Studies, only the second such center
established in the United States. In 1986,
Father Ellis became dean of the College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences. Seeking to give
students a deeper understanding of diverse
cultures, Father Ellis oversaw the establishment of the Office of International Studies and
other global interdisciplinary studies at
Villanova —including Africana Studies, East
Asian Studies and Latin American Studies.
“International programs are part of an overall
education that emphasizes ethics, regard for
the value of human life and dedicated action
for social justice,” he says.
In celebration of Villanova’s strong tradition
of scholarship in the sciences, Father Ellis
reinstituted the annual conferment of the
Mendel Medal in 1993, following a 25-year
hiatus. This award honors both scientific
accomplishment and religious conviction.
Father Ellis also supported the establishment
of the new Department of Geography and
the Environment in 2007. Two undergraduate
programs within this department, Environmental
Science and Environmental Studies, graduated
their inaugural classes in 2009.
“Besides daily interactions with students,
helping to support new programs has been one
of the most rewarding parts of my work,” he
says. “The wider range of perspectives we
provide, the more our students have the opportunity to grow.” This is precisely the approach
that Father Ellis and the faculty are taking to
the curricular revision that will be completed
in the coming year. “As we continuously
improve our curriculum — from the Augustine
& Culture Seminar to the electives we offer—
our priority is to offer an education that’s
rooted in the realities of life worldwide.”
