Renee Kohler-Ryan

Professor Renee Kohler-Ryan is a Professor and Deputy Executive Dean at the School of Philosophy & Theology, University of Notre Dame Australia. She serves as Director of the Institute for Ethics and Society and holds roles in the Mission and Identity Committee for Sydney Catholic Schools and the Synod on Synodality. Previously, she earned a PhD in Philosophy from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven under Professor William Desmond.

Education: BA (Liberal Arts - Phil), Master in Philosophy (Lic.), PhD in Philosophy.

Research focuses on Aesthetics, Political Philosophy, and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. She authored Companions in the Between: Augustine, Desmond, and their Communities of Love, with a forthcoming book on Edith Stein's Essays on Woman (2026). She designed the Graduate Certificate in Catholic Thought for educators.

Committee memberships include the Board of Directors for Mary Aikenhead Educational Ministries and the Reference Group for Studies in Catholic Thought (reporting to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference).

Labs/Teams: Active in the Institute for Ethics and Society, contributing to interdisciplinary ethical research.