New Moakley Chairholder

Professor of Political Science Ryan Patrick Hanley, a historian of political philosophy who explores the work of eminent Enlightenment thinkers and their relevance for 21st-century society, has been named as the J. Joseph Moakley Professor of Political Science.

Hanley is the second to hold the Moakley Chair, endowed in honor of the longtime South Boston Democratic congressman. Kay Schlozman, appointed to the chair in 2002, retired at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year after 50 years at BC.

For Hanley, who joined Boston College in 2019 after 15 years on the Marquette University faculty, his selection for the Moakley Chair only adds to an already fulfilling tenure at the Heights.

“I am humbled at being chosen for this chair,” he said. “First, because it is named for Joe Moakley, whose service to his constituency and his willingness to take on challenging ethical and political issues is such an inspiration. Second, because the chair was held by Kay Schlozman, who made such a huge impact on our understanding of American politics, and did such invaluable service to the discipline of political science. She was so welcoming to me when I first came here and helped me to get to know the University.

“Boston College is my dream job,” added Hanley. “This department takes politics and political questions very seriously, and I feel very fortunate to be among such talented colleagues. I also enjoy working with the students here, and am impressed by their enthusiasm and incisiveness. And as the parent of a current senior, I’ve been able to experience the BC community in a more personal way.”

“I believe that Ryan is a most worthy successor to Kay as Moakley Professor,” said Professor Gerald Easter, the department chair, who praised Schlozman for her “highly valued teaching and service at Boston College and highly acclaimed scholarship and service to the American political science field.

“Ryan is an internationally renowned scholar of early modern political theory in general and Adam Smith and the Enlightenment in particular. Our political theory subfield is consistently ranked among the very best in the country and the successful recruitment of Ryan has been a major factor in maintaining this status.

“I see common themes running through Ryan’s scholarship and teaching, regarding what is good, what is just, what is honorable, and what is ethical in the exercise of political power—all of which complement the Jesuit mission of Boston College.”

In addition to serving as Mellon Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Marquette, Hanley has held visiting appointments or fellowships at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Chicago, where he earned a doctorate. He also holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge.

At BC, Hanley has taught courses such as Politics and Literature, Enlightenment Political Theory, and Adam Smith, and is looking forward to offering a new class in the spring on Political Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition. He is the author of The Political Philosophy of Fénelon, Our Great Purpose: Adam Smith on Living a Better Life, Love’s Enlightenment: Rethinking Charity in Modernity, and Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue. Hanley also is editor of the recently published volume Love: A History.

The works of Smith, Pascal, Descartes, and their contemporaries may seem far removed from our era, said Hanley, but in fact have relevance for the modern world. Smith, for example, believed that commercial society opens up unique opportunities for both vice and virtue—living a good life requires us to develop capacities, skills, and virtues that enable us to flourish in the midst of the unique temptations and constraints of a market society.

“The fundamental questions they raise about the nature of human flourishing and the good society are just as meaningful in the 21st century as the 17th or 18th, and the way they articulate core ideas offers us a cogent point of reference: How can we look to the past for guidance, and what do we need to do on our own?”

That question doesn’t exist in a vacuum, Hanley added, what with the norm-shattering societal changes brought by the information technology age.

“At a time when tech is upending what we do, one might wonder whether the views and values of classical thinkers are really obsolete,” he said. “It’s all the more important to think and articulate what, exactly, it means to be a human being—and it seems to me that AI is making the case for liberal arts education.”

A Jesuit university, Hanley believes, is ideal for this consideration of past and present. “A hallmark of Jesuit education is the exploration of how the gifts we have been given can help us live meaningful lives and contribute to the common good. Boston College encourages and supports innovative faculty efforts that encourage students to make these explorations.”

Hanley points to a Core Curriculum class, The Making of the Modern Mind, he has taught in tandem with Professor of Mathematics Avner Ash, in which students read and discussed foundational works in philosophy and mathematics.

“It was dense material, but the class did a great job of connecting it to their own perspectives,” he said. “Students are very willing to do this work, and quite enthusiastic about it, too.”

Hanley is a firm believer in the power of education to shape one’s life trajectory: The courses in art history and intellectual history he took as a Penn undergrad made such an impression that he wound up leaving the pre-med track he was on.

“Being introduced to the life of the mind, to the possibility that you could lead a life dedicated to reading and studying ideas, was very exciting—one of the greatest things that ever happened to me,” he said. “As a professor, I get excited to see students who chart a different course from what they originally set out to do. That’s such an important feature of college."