Vicchio, Stephen 1950- (Stephen J. Vicchio, Stephen John Vicchio)

PERSONAL:

Born December 12, 1950, in Baltimore, MD; son of John R. (an owner of a roofing company) and Elmira (a homemaker) Vicchio; married Kathleen M. Cahill (an attorney), May 26, 1990; children: Owen. Education: University of Maryland at College Park, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1973; Yale University, M.A.R. (with highest distinction), 1976; Hereford College, Oxford, M.Phil., 1983; University of St. Andrews, Ph.D., 1985. Politics: "Lapsed Democrat." Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Lutherville, MD. Office—Department of Philosophy, 516 Gibbons Hall, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, 4701 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21210. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Catonsville, assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies, 1976-80; College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Baltimore, assistant professor, 1980-86, associate professor, 1986-92, professor of philosophy, 1992—. Johns Hopkins University, adjunct professor, 1973—; St. Mary's Seminary and University, adjunct professor, 1979—, distinguished lecturer in systematic theology, 1988, Dunning Distinguished Lecturer at Ecumenical Institute, 1995—; University of Maryland, Baltimore County, adjunct associate professor, 1985-2000; University of Maryland at College Park, visiting professor, 1986-87; guest speaker at numerous other institutions in the United States and elsewhere, including law enforcement agencies. Thomas More Project, member of board of directors, 1990—; Radio Mass Inc., board member, 1994-96. Lecturer at churches, civic centers, and libraries; guest on radio programs; gives readings from his works; consultant to Center Stage, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Medicaid Fraud Division, Maryland Attorney General's Office. Member of Baltimore Mayor's Casino Gambling Task Force, 1994-95, Baltimore County Council Redistricting Committee, 2001-02, Johns Hopkins Brain Injury Unit board, 2002-03, and Veterans Administration Hospital stroke board, 2002-04.

MEMBER:

American Philosophical Association, American Academy of Religion, Maryland Historical Society, Phi Beta Kappa, Eta Sigma Phi.

AWARDS, HONORS:

First prize, Young American Playwright's Conference, 1972, for "An Unnamed Play: Which Is Not a Title but Simply an Explanation;" A.D. Emmart Award, outstanding writing in the humanities, 1983, 1986; Frank Muir Prize for fiction, 1984; grant from Committee of the Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom, 1984-85; Thomas Gray Prize for the most distinguished doctoral thesis written in the British Universities, 1985; grants from National Endowment for the Humanities, 1985, 1987, 1990; fellow, Wye Institute, 1988; Mullan Distinguished Teacher Award, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, 1990; Exemplary Teaching Award, American Association of Higher Education, 1991; creativity award, Art Direction, 1992, for Ordinary Mysteries: More Chronicles of Life, Love, and Laughter; named Maryland professor of the year, Carnegie Foundation, 1994; award for excellence in police training, National Executive Institute, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1998; California Police Officers Standards and Training Teaching Awards, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001; grant from State of Arizona, 2001.

WRITINGS:

A Careful Disorder: Chronicles of Life, Love, and Laughter (essays), Christian Classics (Westminster, MD), 1987.

The Voice from the Whirlwind: Reflections on the Problem of Evil, T. and T. Clark (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1987.

(Editor) On Vital Reserves, Christian Classics (Westminster, MD), 1988.

(Under name Stephen J. Vicchio; editor, with Virginia Geiger, and contributor) Perspectives on the American Catholic Church, 1789-1989, Christian Classics (Westminster, MD), 1989.

(Under name Stephen J. Vicchio) The Voice from the Whirlwind: The Problem of Evil and the Modern World, Christian Classics (Westminster, MD), 1989, 2nd edition, Wipf and Stock Publishers (Eugene, OR), 2006.

(Under name Stephen J. Vicchio) Ordinary Mysteries: More Chronicles of Life, Love, and Laughter (essays), Wakefield Editions (Westminster, MD), 1991.

The I of the Beholder: Essays and Stories, Cathedral Foundation Press (Baltimore, MD), 1995.

Ivan and Adolph: The Last Man in Hell, Woodholme Publishers (Baltimore, MD), 1997.

Pieces of an Examined Life: Essays and Stories, (Woodholme House (Baltimore, MD), 1999.

Executioner's Hill (play), IPP Press (Baltimore, MD), 2001.

(Editor, with Lucinda Edinberg, and contributor) The Sweet Uses of Adversity: Images of the Biblical Job (exhibition catalog), IPP Press (Baltimore, MD), 2002.

Policing, Integrity, and Practical Ethics, IPP Press (Baltimore, MD), 2002.

The Figure of the Biblical Job: A History, three volumes, Wipf and Stock Publishers (Eugene, OR), 2006.

Jefferson's Religion, Wipf and Stock Publishers (Eugene, OR), 2007.

Work represented in anthologies, including Animal Intelligence, Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington, DC), 1988; Western Philosophy and the Problem of Personal Identity, edited by C. Stephen Mann, Peter Allen Publishing (New York, NY), 1990; Constitutions and the Practice of Religious Education, edited by Roberto Toniatti, University of Bologna Press (Bologna, Italy), 1992; Reflections on the Good Society, edited by R.R. Guzman, Duke University Press (Durham, NC), 1994; and A Taste of Catholicism: Recipes for the Body and Soul, Cathedral Foundation Press (Baltimore, MD), 1996. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Essence: Issues in the Study of Aging, Dying, and Death, Maryland Humanities, Augustinian Heritage, National Catholic Reporter, Newsday, Journal of Religious Education, Faith as Imagination in Spiritual Life: Quarterly of Contemporary Spirituality, Conceptual Issues in Psychiatry and Ethics, Verasaiva, and Baltimore Sun.

SIDELIGHTS:

Stephen Vicchio once told CA: "I help to feed my family by teaching philosophy at a small liberal arts college for women. I try to feed my imagination by writing occasional essays for newspapers, magazines, and journals. In my philosophical writing, I have been concerned primarily with the problem of suffering. In my work as an essayist and short story writer, I attempt to capture very small moments, many of them from childhood, that define who we are as individuals. I suppose it is an attempt to come to grips with how I became the man I am. I've also been searching for defining moments that I share with other people. In a real way, my philosophical career may be no different than my literary one, for suffering and profound joy frequently provide the atmosphere for those defining moments."