Written by Kevin J. Jones
(OSV News) — The Catholic Institute of Technology, a new Catholic university focused on STEM education and research, aims to enroll its first class of students this fall. The Los Angeles area university aims to provide students with a unique “deeply Catholic” post-secondary education that excels in science and technology.
“What we are building is like a Catholic Caltech or a Catholic MIT,” co-founder and president Jennifer Nolan told OSV News that the prestigious technology research university, California He mentioned the Institute of Technology (Pasadena, California) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. in Technology Engineering from Cambridge, Massachusetts. “We have already presented at conferences and some are doing research under the Catholic Institute of Technology.”
Nolan, who earned his doctorate in psychology from the University of California, Irvine, said Catholic Polytechnic Institute is the only school of its kind in the country.
“I believe we are the only university in the United States that focuses on degrees in science and technology,” she says. “There are many liberal arts institutions that have added very good science and engineering departments. But I believe that there is no university in the United States that truly focuses on science and technology and is deeply Catholic.” .”
The California Department of Private Higher Education granted the university preliminary approval in late December after an approval process that took more than two years. Professor Nolan said the university would take steps towards full accreditation.
The Catholic Institute of Technology is currently accepting applications for undergraduate and graduate students for the fall 2024 semester. The new university will initially offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science. Professor Nolan said the university aims to admit between 30 and 50 students in the first year. Most classes are held face-to-face, and in some cases, professors may teach remotely.
“We are hiring professors and putting policies in place to start this fall,” Professor Nolan said. She said the purpose of the Catholic Institute of Technology is to “help Catholic students enter the highest-paying and in-demand professions and to advance science and technology in a positive way.”
The university will offer science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classes and a core curriculum that includes history, English, philosophy and theology. For Nolan, this means schools “embedding faith into each classroom.”
Catholic ethics will play a role in university science education. Ethical issues such as how to view the biological manipulation of humans and animals and artificial intelligence from a Catholic perspective will be a component of each class, although not necessarily the focus of each class.
The university’s website, catholicpolytechnic.org, also mentions the importance of business expertise, business information systems, marketing technology, and entrepreneurship.
Professor Nolan said the university strives to combine research and teaching with a high level of innovation and expertise. She pointed out that some of her professors are from NASA and have military backgrounds.
“We have the ability to teach at that level and do research at that level,” she said.
University board members include John Tran, a software developer who worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Michael Stefanini, senior engineer at the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. and software engineering expert Peter McNally, senior consultant at Bentley University’s User Experience Center, based in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Nolan himself has taught at the University of California, Irvine, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona. She previously served as chief operating officer and co-founder of the Stroke and Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center.
Nolan cited the long tradition of Catholicism in science, saying, “A lot of the early scientists were Catholic.”
The Catholic Institute of Technology’s motto is “Fides et Scientia,” which means “Faith and Science” in Latin. The university’s website cites inspirational Catholic models such as French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. St. Giuseppe Moscati was an Italian physician and medical researcher in the early 20th century. Belgian priest and astrophysicist Father Georges Lemaître. Sister Mary Kenneth Keller is a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the first educator in the United States to earn a doctorate in computer science.
Nolan said some research shows people are leaving the Catholic faith because of a perceived disconnect between faith and science.
“Yet faith and science go hand in hand,” she said. “The more we know about the created, the more we know about our Creator.”
“We have the ability to help our students do something great for God, especially in science and technology,” she said, adding that graduates have enough to support large families if they choose. He also pointed out the importance of having an income.
“We are educating them for career excellence, stable income, and service to the Catholic Church and service to God,” Nolan said. The Catholic Institute of Technology’s education ensures that students “not only learn the ethics of what they’re doing, but also use that faith and use that science to lead them to the faith rather than lead them away from it.” ” she said.
The university is supported by local church leaders. Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez approved the university in January 2020 and congratulated its efforts.
Professor Nolan said the school’s theology professors would seek formal episcopal approval to teach Catholic theology, a requirement of canon law known as “duty.”
The university is also seeking to be included in the Newman Guide, produced by the lay-run Newman Cardinal Society, which evaluates Catholic colleges and universities based on their commitment to preserving Catholic identity and mission.
The Catholic Institute of Technology aims to make American patriotism one of its ideals.
“We love this country,” Nolan said, noting that many of his team members are “military and ex-military.” He said board member Father Richard M. Erickson, a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston with a doctorate in psychology, retired from the U.S. Air Force Chaplain Corps as a brigadier general. By instilling a love of country and constitutional principles, the university strives to “employ the best possible people in our workforce and encourage them to innovate, design and create great products and innovations that advance our nation. Our aim is to enable people to create.
For Nolan, science education has another purpose and purpose. It is the sense of awe that leads people to God, and the recognition that “the image of God can be seen in even the slightest study.”
“You can find evidence of God in the smallest detail,” she said. “Then we will lead people to faith through science.”
Kevin J. Jones writes for OSV News from Denver.