President’s 2016 Welcome Letter

Dear Colleagues,

I am honored to serve as president of the American Catholic Historical Association for the coming year. Our association had an excellent annual meeting in Atlanta, and I hope to maintain the energy and enthusiasm of that encounter for the whole of 2016. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to you all, the members of the ACHA, who dedicate your time to preserving and producing Catholic history. I would also like to thank my two immediate predecessors in the office of president, Sr. Angelyn Dries, OFM, and Prof. Daniel Bornstein. Both have been invaluable guides to the association for me, and I appreciate their continued support.

I would like to share some of my plans for the ACHA. As you all know, the association has undergone several administrative changes over the past years in response to new technologies and a changing membership. The administrative skill of our Executive Secretary/Treasurer Fr. Bentley Anderson, SJ, has been crucial in meeting these challenges. This year we have made a further change to the executive council that intends to ensure that our deliberative body reflects the diversity of our membership. I have appointed the first graduate student representative to the executive council, and a second such member will be elected in the coming year. With the voices of younger scholars incorporated into executive council meetings, we hope to be able to address the needs of the next generation of historians.

I hope to strengthen the ACHA’s role as a forum for scholars and as a sponsor of scholarship. I recognize that the demands placed on scholars today are different than what they were in years past. Our association can be a generous patron, and it should seek to make support available to graduate students and post-doctoral scholars. I encourage you to alert such individuals to the grants and fellowships that the ACHA offers, and to consider the many prizes that the association offers for excellent scholarship.

Finally, I want to underscore the important role that the Catholic Historical Review plays in divulgating the type of scholarship that we as an association hold dear. I hope to encourage colleagues and fellow members to submit their articles to the journal, and hope that you will do the same.

I look forward to your comments and suggestions about the association and its activities.

Best wishes,
Liam Matthew Brockey