Matthew Walz

Biography

Matthew Walz was born in New York, but grew up mostly in Ohio. He completed undergraduate studies at Christendom College in Virginia, double-majoring in philosophy and theology and graduating as the valedictorian of the Class of 1995. He did graduate studies in the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C. There he earned a doctorate in philosophy by completing a dissertation on Thomas Aquinas’s understanding of free will.

Matthew has been teaching at the college level since 1998. As a graduate student, he taught for two years at CUA. Then he began teaching in the interdisciplinary Great Books program at Thomas Aquinas College in California, where he remained for eight years. In 2008, he became a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Dallas (UD), remaining there until 2026. While at UD, he also served as the Chair of the Philosophy Department and the Associate Dean of Constantin College. In addition, during his last thirteen years at UD he served as the Director of the Philosophy & Letters and Pre-Theology Programs as well as the Director of Intellectual Formation at Holy Trinity Seminary.

Matthew’s research and writing have focused primarily on medieval philosophy, ancient philosophy, and philosophical anthropology. Besides Aquinas, his favorite philosophical authors include Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, More, Newman, and Wojtyła. In the classroom, he loves reading masterfully crafted texts closely alongside his students, helping them to befriend these great authors and thinkers.

Matthew has been married since 1999 to his lovely wife Teresa. They have been blessed with eight children (two sons and six daughters) who have kept them busy over the years, but also joyful and grateful to our heavenly Father for His generous mercy and multitudinous gifts.

Learn more about Matthew Walz, Thomas More College’s fourth president | Matthew Walz CV