Wilsey College Professor of Theology William Mattison became chairman of the Notre Dame theology department on July 1, 2026, succeeding Fr. Khaled Anatolios. Mattison’s appointment comes as the theology department ranks best in the world for the second year in a row. In addition to his chairmanship, Professor Mattison also serves as Faculty Director of the Moreau Program, which he helped revise in 2024.
A Long Island native, Mattison is an alumnus of Georgetown. He received his Ph.D. in moral theology and Christian ethics from Notre Dame in 2003. Mattison’s scholarship focuses on moral theology, particularly virtue and the theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Professor Mattison is well connected with undergraduate students at Notre Dame. In addition to his role with the Moreau program, Mattison taught over 450 students in a one-credit course focused on the works of C.S. Lewis in the spring of 2025 and teaches many other popular undergraduate and graduate level courses.
Mattison outlined his vision for the department under his leadership in an interview with the Rover. He emphasized that the department is “rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition” and formed by “a preponderance of Catholics, and also other non-Catholic Christians and people of other faiths, all of whom share the common mission of wanting to channel and reinterpret and pass on tradition.”
Mattison praised the department’s faculty and programs as “world leading and amazing.” He described undergraduate programs as being “totally life giving” and lauded the work of professors including Father Kevin Grove, C.S.C. and Professor Anthony Pagliarini for the success of their Foundations of Theology courses.
Mattison also discussed the “many prongs” of the theology department to provide a formative experience for undergraduates. He told the Rover, “We have Bible study groups. We have a one credit course every spring. We have tons of events through the newly revamped theology club.”
Over the past 10 years, the theology program at Notre Dame has more than doubled in size, reaching over 800 majors and minors. Professor Mattison attributed this growth to the work of the Holy Spirit, saying, “I think this shows that the Spirit is rousing in the students’ hearts a desire for God, the one in whom we all find rest.” Mattison also highlighted the department’s highly ranked graduate M.Div., MTS, and Ph.D. programs, as well.
Many of the department’s top professors recently retired, including Cyril O’Reagan, Gary Anderson, Jerry McKenny, Tim Matovina, and Mattison’s own doctoral advisor Jean Porter, among nearly a dozen others. But maintaining a strong faculty is a top priority for Mattison. He told the Rover, “You don’t lose a hitter like Aaron Judge or Ohtani and not notice it. We’ve had a lot of people that have retired, and we need to make sure through our own growth with both our current faculty and new hires that we’re able to keep providing the service to the Church and the students that we’ve been able to.”
The growth of theology majors and minors also presents potential challenges with accommodating the large number of students. “We’ve had to split major courses because they’re so big, which is a nice problem to have. We have to cultivate our undergraduate program to continue to respond to the need that students have in a way that’s best able to serve them,” Mattison commented.
Speaking to the culture of faith at Notre Dame, Mattison told the Rover, “One of the biggest blessings we have here is so many young, smart, faithful, service-oriented, and joyful people around here. This is a place where people care about these big picture questions. They’re willing to wrestle with and talk about their faith lives to support one another on the challenging journey of discipleship to celebrate with one another.”
“Find places where you can connect with people and be friends with people, where you can talk about your faith journey, about what God’s doing in your life, and get support on that and support one another,” Mattison encouraged students.
Noah Schoenfelder, a junior theology and business analytics major who attended a retreat with Mattison, told the Rover, “Professor Mattison was an excellent, patient, and wise discussion leader who focussed on us as individuals. He seemed committed to reaching us as college freshmen who just needed people to talk to and a quiet place to spend an afternoon.”
Schoenfelder continued, “I was also able to take his class on C.S. Lewis. He is a great lecturer and makes theological concepts applicable to the everyday lives of his students. I am very excited to hear that he is becoming the theology chair! He will do great good!”
Joshua Barnard is a junior studying history and philosophy-theology with a minor in constitutional studies. He is from Greeley, Colorado and can be reached at jbarnar2@nd.edu.