Biography

David Elliot is Associate Professor of Moral Theology at The Catholic University of America, with a specialization in fundamental Catholic moral theology, virtue ethics, and the moral theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. He received his Ph.D. in moral theology at the University of Notre Dame in 2014, and was awarded a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship as Research Associate in Theological Ethics at the University of Cambridge, coming to CUA in 2017. He is the author of one monograph and eighteen journal articles and book chapters invited or already in print.

Elliot’s first book, Hope and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2017) offered a Thomistic account of how Christian hope contributes to human happiness and the common good while aiming at eternal beatitude. It received highly positive book reviews and was described as “a uniquely significant contribution to Christian ethics” and setting “a benchmark for studies in virtue ethics.” His second book project on “spiritual training” focuses on the crucial role St. Thomas Aquinas assigns to moral and spiritual practices in the growth of Christian virtue, allowing us to see a deeply rewarding practical side to the “common and universal Doctor of the Church.”

Elliot has taught moral theology at the Catholic University, Notre Dame, and Cambridge University, and co-organized academic conferences at each. He is the co-editor for a scholarly volume with CUA Press and co-edited a special SCE journal issue on “Virtue, Habit, and Grace in Thomas Aquinas.” He also serves on the CUA Press Editorial Committee, is an Editorial Board member of Studies in Christian Ethics, and is currently the convener for the Thomas Aquinas Consultation of the Catholic Theological Society of America.

From 2015-2022 Elliot was a Research Associate (honorary/non-residential) of the Von Hügel Institute, University of Cambridge (2015-2022). He has been awarded multiple grants and fellowships, including “The Character Essay and Book Prize” by the Templeton Foundation funded Character Project for contributions to the study of character.