Dawn M. Nothwehr, O.S.F.

Erica and Harry John Family chair of Catholic Theological Ethics

M.A., Religious Studies - Maryknoll School of Theology; Maryknoll, NY
Ph.D., Religious Studies - Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI

Dawn M. Nothwehr holds The Erica and Harry John Family Endowed Chair in Catholic Ethics at Catholic Theological Union. The mandate of the Chair is to promote the Roman Catholic Consistent Ethic of Life, advanced by Cardinal Bernardin. She is a member of the Sisters of St. Francis, Rochester, Minnesota.

Nothwehr’s current research explores issues of ethical normativity – especially how moral wisdom of peoples beyond the North Atlantic regions enriches and informs classical Christian ethics. Her ongoing research engages environmental ethics through the lens of Franciscan theology, particularly the effects of global climate change on the poor. The dialogue between religion and science, as well the ethics of power and racial justice are of equal interest. Her study attends to mutuality as a formal norm within a feminist ethics of power. Additional involvements include: the praxis of empowerment of the poor and vulnerable, moral pluralism, and relations in moral disagreement.

A Board Member of the Catholic Theology Society of America, she also was Convener of the Moral Theology section and Co-Convener of the Women’s Consultation in Constructive Theology. In the Society of Christian Ethics she is Co-Convener of the Environmental Ethics and Theology section. Dr. Nothwehr was listed among the top twenty-five eco-theologians in The Heartland of the U.S. by The National Council of Churches of Christ Ecojustice Programs in 2012.