Professor of Theology Peter Casarella has won the Virgilio Elizondo Award from the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States. The award was announced during the academy’s annual colloquium at the University of San Diego in early June.

The award recognizes distinguished achievement in theology by the academy, which is dedicated to promoting research and critical theological reflection within the context of the U.S. Hispanic experience.

Casarella’s primary field of study is systematic theology followed by world religions and world church. Before he came to Duke, he was an associate professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame from 2013-2020 and served as director of the Latin American North American Church Concerns (LANACC) project in the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. He served as professor of Catholic Studies from 2007-2013 at DePaul University, where he was also the founding director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology. He has published extensively on a variety of topics, including medieval Christian Neoplatonism, contemporary theological aesthetics, intercultural thought, and the Hispanic/Latino presence in the U.S. Catholic Church.