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Francis Russell Hittinger III (born(1949-07-27)27 July 1949) is the Executive Director of the Institute for Human Ecology atThe Catholic University of America. He was previously the Warren Chair of Catholic Studies and Research Professor of Law at theUniversity of Tulsa.^[1] Hittinger's scholarship is focused on the intersection of philosophy, religion, and law, with particular emphasis on the thought ofSt. Thomas Aquinas. For the past several years he has worked and published extensively on the history of Catholic social thought since the 18th century.^[2][3]

Hittinger is on the governing council of thePontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and a member of thePontifical Academy of Social Sciences.^[4] Before teaching at the University of Tulsa, he was on the faculties ofCatholic University of America andFordham University. He has served as a visiting professor atPrinceton University,Catholic University in Ruzomberok,Providence College andNew York University.^[5] He served as the Director of Ethics for the Warren Medical Research Center inTulsa, Oklahoma and was formerly on the board of the Center for Ethics and Culture at theUniversity of Notre Dame (2004–2012). He has published more than 100 articles and reviews in addition to several books, among themThomas Aquinas and the Rule of Law,A Critique of the New Natural Law Theory, andThe First Grace: Rediscovering the Natural Law in a Post-Christian World. He has played a role in the writing ofpapal encyclicals for three popes, his Social Science Academy together with the Pontifical Academy of Science drafted a first report on the global environmental issues only a year beforePope Francis's 2015 encyclicalLaudato si'.^[6]

Born in Quantico, Virginia, Francis Russell Hittinger III was the son of career Marine Corps officer, Francis Russell Hittinger, Jr. and Anne Pollard. He grew up on or near Marine Corps and Navy bases in Camp Lejeune, Norfolk, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Quantico, Kaneohe Hawaii, and Washington, D.C. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Northern Virginia. He has two brothers, John Pollard Hittinger of Houston Texas and Thomas Joseph Hittinger of Manassas, Virginia. Their father was killed in action in Quang Nam Province, Republic of South Vietnam in 1968; their mother died of lung cancer in 1972. Hittinger received his BA from theUniversity of Notre Dame, summa cum laude, majoring in History and Theology in 1975, and matriculated to the JesuitSt. Louis University, where he was awarded an MA and PhD (1986) in philosophy. His dissertation, A Critique of the New Natural Law Theory, was published by the University of Notre Dame Press in 1989.

• 1949 births
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• 20th-century American academics
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century American non-fiction writers
• 20th-century American philosophers
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• 21st-century American philosophers
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• Academics from Tulsa, Oklahoma
• American male non-fiction writers
• American religious writers
• American Roman Catholic writers
• Catholics from Oklahoma
• Catholic philosophers
• Princeton University faculty
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• University of Notre Dame alumni
• University of Tulsa College of Law faculty
• University of Tulsa faculty

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