Rate My Professor Patrick Flanagan

Rev. Patrick S.L. Flanagan, C.M., Ph.D., serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at St. John’s University in Queens, New York. He earned a B.S. in Biology Education magna cum laude from Niagara University, an M.Div. from the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, and a Ph.D. in Theological Ethics from Loyola University Chicago. His doctoral dissertation, Calling the Sleeper to Awake: The Common Good as an Ethic of Information Technology, examines ethical dimensions of technology through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. Flanagan’s career at St. John’s University includes tenured associate professorship, where he leads a department of over fifty faculty and staff, overseeing curricular reforms, faculty development initiatives, and the creation of new interdisciplinary programs such as the Medical Humanities minor.

His research specializations lie at the intersection of theology, ethics, and technology, with applications of Catholic Social Teaching to moral challenges in information technology, business ethics, healthcare ethics, and cyber ethics. Flanagan co-authored the book Good Business: Catholic Social Teaching at Work in the Marketplace (2014, revised edition 2025) and has published articles in the Journal of Moral Theology, Journal of Catholic Social Thought, and Journal of Business Ethics. He serves as co-editor of the Journal of Religion and Business Ethics, advancing scholarship on religion and business. As a Vincentian priest from Wantagh, Long Island, he holds leadership roles including Treasurer of the Society of Christian Ethics, board member of the Catholic Theological Society of America, HeartShareNY, Vincentian Solidarity Office, and Vincentian International Mission Services, as well as boards of his alma maters Holy Trinity Diocesan High School and Niagara University. Flanagan is a national media commentator on Church affairs and moral issues for USA Today, Newsmax, and Spectrum News, extending his academic influence to public discourse.