The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is pleased to welcome three new graduate mission fellows for the 2025–26 academic year: Solomon Fellows Rev. Brendan Baran, O.P., and Nicholas Ramirez, and Polking Fellow Joseph Mann.

As part of its mission as an interdisciplinary research center, the de Nicola Center annually awards two competitive fellowships for graduate and professional students at the University of Notre Dame who share the de Nicola Center’s interest in the moral and intellectual tradition of the Church, and whose research aligns with the mission of the Center. In addition to receiving a financial scholarship, during their time at Notre Dame Solomon and Polking Fellows play an active role in the life of the de Nicola Center, take part in regular Center events and conferences, and interact with its wide network of faculty and student fellows.

“Every year, the de Nicola Center welcomes elite rising scholars to Notre Dame, individuals whose work across the disciplines augments our own efforts to support serious research that engages the breadth of the Catholic tradition,” said Jennifer Newsome Martin, director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture and the John J. Cavanaugh Professor of the Humanities. “Our Solomon and Polking Fellowships are a concrete expression of our mission to support the next generation of scholars who will go on to share the fruits of their studies in their academic and professional careers.”

Solomon Fellows

The Solomon Fellowship was established in 2016 to honor W. David Solomon, the legendary founding director of the de Nicola Center, who taught in the Department of Philosophy from 1968 to 2016 and directed more than 40 doctoral dissertations. The competitive fellowship is awarded to an incoming Ph.D. student in the College of Arts and Letters who has a demonstrated passion for the Catholic moral and intellectual tradition that animated Solomon’s own exemplary academic career. This year, the Center awarded two fellowships in memory of Professor Solomon, who died in February 2025.

Father Baran is a member of the St. Joseph Province of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) who earned his master’s in education from Columbia University Teachers College and a B.A. in Classics from Brown University. Prior to commencing Ph.D. studies at Notre Dame, Father Baran taught theology at Providence College.

“I am a member of a mendicant order which lives the evangelical counsels, including poverty. This means that the Solomon Fellowship provided crucial funding that contributed significantly to my ability to come to Notre Dame,” Father Baran said.

While at Notre Dame, Father Baran will pursue a Ph.D. in theology, with a focus on the history of Christianity. He is especially interested in patristic theology and its reception in the medieval period.

“Initially I was drawn to the liturgy and the way that the Dominican friars pray and worship God,” he said, speaking about his attraction to the Dominican order. “My first real encounter with Dominican prayer was Vespers with the friars at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and I remember thinking that I could do this for the rest of my life. I was also drawn to the way that the life of prayer, study, and preaching all integrate with each other.”

During his time at Notre Dame and at the de Nicola Center, Father Baran hopes to instill the same passion for prayer, study, and community rooted within the Catholic tradition.

“I hope to work along with other Solomon Fellows to create a community of graduate students who aspire to be scholars that draw upon the mission of the de Nicola Center,” he said. “I look forward to working with the Center’s staff to gather the other Solomon Fellows in colloquia, informal conversations, and time for reflection on the life of faith.”

Nicholas Ramirez is pursuing a Ph.D. in moral theology but is not new to the University of Notre Dame or to the de Nicola Center: Ramirez graduated from the MTS program at Notre Dame in May 2025, where he concentrated in moral theology and the history of Christianity. He was a Sorin Fellow at the de Nicola Center during his master’s studies.

“I was drawn to stay at Notre Dame for many reasons, chief among them the vibrant Catholic intellectual community,” he said. “The de Nicola Center is a very special Catholic institution that values both academic excellence and fidelity to the Catholic moral and intellectual tradition. Having an institution like that at Notre Dame, where I knew I would be personally and greatly supported in my academic interests in a way that is supportive of the mission of the Church, greatly helped my decision to choose to stay at Notre Dame.”

Ramirez’s research interests explore the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Thomistic tradition with specific application to important modern ethical and bioethical questions.

“I see these research interests as being closely aligned with the de Nicola Center’s larger mission of bringing the resources of the Catholic intellectual tradition to bear on modern ethical conflicts in areas of great social importance, such as medicine and politics,” he said. “I am looking forward to being involved with the Hippocratic Society and also getting to meet and collaborate with all those involved with the Center.”

Polking Fellow

The Polking Family Fellowship cultivates the next generation of leaders who understand that law and public policy are essential elements in building a sustainable culture of life. Recipients of the Polking Family Fellowship receive a top-up scholarship for three years of study at Notre Dame Law School, as well as opportunities to participate more closely in the work of the de Nicola Center by attending special Center events, working with its affiliated faculty and fellows, interacting with speakers and guests of the Center, conducting scholarly research, and receiving special career mentoring and internship opportunities.

Prior to coming to Notre Dame, Mann spent six years teaching in secondary and higher education, but ultimately felt the pull to study law. He received his Ph.D. in musicology at The Catholic University of America, as well as an M.M. in piano performance from James Madison University and a B.M. in piano pedagogy from Longwood University.

“The dCEC represents the kind of community I have always wanted to be a part of,” Mann said. “It engages in the pursuit of virtue and truth that ultimately aims at communion with God and, beyond the personal and intellectual, also seeks to cultivate fellowship, Christian hospitality, and service in imitation of and obedience to Christ.”

“I look forward to the community, the intellectual engagement, the deepening of my faith, the lifelong connections I will have with my fellow student colleagues and faculty, and the many opportunities I will have to also be a light in the world like the de Nicola Center,” he added.

The de Nicola Center’s competitive Solomon and Polking Fellowships are offered annually to outstanding scholars whose research interests and career aspirations support and extend the work of the Center. Learn more about the de Nicola Center’s Mission Fellowships here.