BOARD CHAIR

Francis Fast recently returned home to Alberta to take on a role as Director of the Bachelor of Arts in Catholic Studies program at the Newman Theological College. Prior to that appointment, he was Assistant Headmaster at the grammar school for Founders Classical Academy in Lewisville, Texas, and Director of Graduate Programs with Great Hearts Academies in Phoenix, Arizona. He received his M.A. and his Ph.D. in Political Philosophy from the University of Dallas, and recently completed his thesis on the political philosophy of Thomas Aquinas.

DIRECTOR

Jenny Fast serves as a Sessional Lecturer in Literature at Newman Theological College and a Sessional Instructor in English at The King's University. She holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, as well as a Masters in Literature from the Institute for Philosophic Studies at the University of Dallas, where she is currently a Doctoral Candidate. Previously, she taught literature, rhetoric, and philosophy at Founders Classical Academy in Lewisville, TX, where she served as Regional Chair for Literature. She has worked on a variety of curriculum development and teacher mentoring projects for K-12 classical programs, including Great Hearts Academies, the Barney Charter Initiative, and the American Teacher Project. She lives in Edmonton with her husband, Francis, and their 3 young children.

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William French earned his B.A. at Bishops University and his J.D. at the University of Toronto, where he fell in love with Plato and Eric Voegelin. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, and shortly after being called to the bar, he answered his true calling and set off for Prague to get involved in the post-communist transformation. Responding to requests from students who had helped lead the Velvet Revolution, and aided by Charter 77 signatories, he set up a Czech NGO to explore possibilities for great books-based inquiry. Since his long, Odyssean journey home to Alberta, his main focus has been to nurture a deeper aural arts culture, in particular through classical theatre. William serves as a director with Calgary’s Shakespeare Company, and has worked to enhance the study of literature and drama in Alberta schools.

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John von Heyking is the chairman of the Department of Political Science at the University of Lethbridge, where he teaches political philosophy, and religion and politics. He earned his M.A. in political science at the University of Calgary, and his Ph.D. in Government at the University of Notre Dame. He is author of Augustine and Politics as Longing in the World (2001), The Form of Politics: Aristotle and Plato on Friendship (2016), and Comprehensive Judgment and Absolute Selflessness: Winston Churchill on Politics as Friendship (2018). He is also coeditor of Friendship and Politics: Essays in Political Thought (2008), Civil Religion in Political Thought (2010), Teaching in an Age of Ideology (2012), as well as two volumes of The Collected Works of Eric Voegelin.

DIRECTOR

Wendy Juergens obtained a degree in Business from City University in London, England. She subsequently earned a professional accounting designation while working for Ford Motor Company and the Kleinwort Benson merchant bank, and gained corporate finance experience with Chase Manhattan Bank. Upon moving to Canada, Wendy became a Controller and Commodities Trading Manager with the Alberta Wheat Pool, before taking time out to be a full-time mother of two. She recently retired from ten years in the position of Secretary/Treasurer at Calgary Girls’ Charter School, where she gained deep knowledge of charter school financial and administration systems. As an avid volunteer, she looks forward to bringing her financial and human resource administration experience to Alberta Classical Academy.

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Moira Lavoie is a lawyer in Edmonton with a general litigation practice. Before studying law, she spent several years working in provincial and federal Indigenous policy, and served as the Director of Policy to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in Ottawa from 2013 to 2015. She earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Calgary, where she was also a co-captain of the women's varsity competitive swim team. She earned a J.D. (with distinction) from the University of Alberta, where she was President and Co-Founder of the U of A chapter of the Runnymede Society — a national, classically liberal organization dedicated to fostering free academic debate and discussion on law school campuses on constitutionalism, the rule of law and individual freedoms. Moira clerked for the Hon. Justice Michelle Crighton of the Alberta Court of Appeal. Together with her husband Malcolm, she is raising two young daughters.

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Ryan Parks is a university educator, administrator, and scholar. His research interests include rhetoric and legitimacy in the context of significant institutional change. Ryan began his career as the Executive Director of an education advocacy group, specializing in post-secondary education issues. He then worked for a large industry association in a government and media relations managerial role, and has served on a number of boards, including the Board of Governors at the University of Western Ontario, the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada, and the Calgary Boys’ Choir. He holds a B.A (Hons.) in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario, an MLitt. in Management, Economics and Politics, and a Ph.D. in Management from St. Andrews University in Scotland.

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Jim Silovs earned his B.P.E., J.D., and B.Ed. from the University of Calgary and his LL.M from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. He is currently an Associate Professor and Associate Dean with the Faculty of Business and Communications Studies at Mount Royal University, and has taught a variety of courses in law, insurance, risk management, and corporate governance. In addition to the roles Jim plays in post secondary education, he has accumulated over 20 years legal experience providing general corporate commercial advice and negotiating and drafting major business transactions. He sits on advisory boards and partnership councils related to adult education and professional development.

DIRECTOR

Joseph Woodard earned a BA at University of Alberta in Political Philosophy, Master’s degrees at Dalhousie and St. John’s (Great Books), Greek and Latin diplomas at Berkeley, and a PhD in Government at Claremont. He invested fifteen years as an academic (Bethany, Brock), fifteen as a journalist (Alberta Report, Calgary Herald), and eleven as a tribunal judge (Citizenship Canada). He helped Kathy raise ten children with parent-run school start-ups, and taught adjunct at high schools and colleges. He writes for magazines such as Public Discourse and Crisis, serves as director of research for the Canadian Centre for Home Education, and moderates Great Books seminars online with Angelicum Academy.