New president to lead Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology
Father Albert Duggan, O.P., has been appointed new president of the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology (DSPT) effective July 2025.
Dominican Father Christopher Fadok, prior provincial of the Dominican Friars of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Western Dominican Province — a province of the Order of Preachers) made the announcement in a press release issued March 12.
The DSPT located in Berkeley, California is both the study center for the Order of Preachers, and an apostolate of the Western Dominican Province. The DSPT prepares religious, clerics, and laity for academic and apostolic vocations. The DSPT instructs both Dominican student brothers and seminarians from other religious traditions, as well as lay men and women who desire to serve the Church in leadership and academic roles. Annual enrollment is about 70 students, of which about 50% are Dominicans in formation.
Father Duggan, a member of the Province of St. Joseph (Eastern Dominican Province), will follow in the footsteps of Father Justin Gable, O.P., who has served as interim president since 2024.
“Father Albert is a deep thinker and superb administrator who will bring these and many other gifts to his role as president,” said Father Fadok, who expressed gratitude for the leadership of Father Gable before him. “As we enter a time of renewal in purpose and vision, Father Albert is a great addition to the leadership of our school.”
Father Duggan grew up in Trenton, Michigan. He received his bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Ethics from Brown University, graduating magna cum laude. He entered the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) in 2007, and continued his education at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., graduating with a Masters of Divinity and Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 2013.
Before religious life, Father Duggan spent four years working on research projects at the John Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics in Baltimore.
Following his ordination to the priesthood in 2013, Father Albert was a Catholic chaplain for John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and associate chaplain of campus ministry at Brown University. He spent the last four years in various leadership positions for the Eastern Dominican Province, including his most recent assignment as vicar provincial for administration. Father Albert has been published in “Linacre Quarterly” and the “American Journal of Bioethics,” among others.
Father Allen Moran, prior provincial of the Province of St. Joseph said that as a former president of the DSPT, he feels “great confidence” that the school will be in capable hands under Father Duggan.
“I know he will approach this new opportunity with the same love for the Church and the Order, and the same knack for problem solving and vision for the future, that he brought to the leadership team of our province,” he said.
Father Duggan said he was “humbled and honored” to be selected as the next president of the DSPT. “With its strong foundations, the school is poised to become one of the premier centers of philosophical and theological studies on the West Coast. In a changing academic and cultural context, our Dominican intellectual tradition has so much to offer the Church and the world.”
The Order of Preachers is a worldwide religious order of the Catholic Church dedicated to preaching the Gospel for the salvation of souls. The Dominicans are one of the fastest growing men’s religious communities in the United States.
Founded in 1850 during the California Gold Rush, the Dominican Friars of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Western Dominican Province) serve throughout the Western U.S. in a variety of apostolates, including campus and parish ministries, schools, seminaries, media and international missions. Its Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology is a graduate school serving religious and lay students from around the world. It celebrates its 175th Jubilee in 2025.
Learn more about the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology at dspt.edu.