Rate My Professor Andrew Hayes

Andrew J. Hayes is Professor of Theology and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. He joined the university in 2011 as Assistant Professor and advanced to Associate Professor. Hayes has served in key administrative roles, including Chair of the Theology Department from 2017 to 2020, Division Dean of Liberal Studies, Executive Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the Core Fellows Program. He earned a B.A. from Christendom College in 2004 and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Christian Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from The Catholic University of America in 2011, with Sidney Griffith as his doctoral supervisor.

Hayes conducts research on Syriac patristics and related theological and literary traditions, with a specialization in asceticism, spirituality, and theological poetics in the thought of St. Ephrem the Syrian, as well as early Syriac authors such as Jacob of Serugh and Philoxenus of Mabbugh. His scholarly contributions include the monograph Icons of the Heavenly Merchant: Ephrem and Pseudo-Ephrem in the Madrashe in Praise of Abraham of Qidun (Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies, 2016). Key book chapters feature "St. Ephrem and the Pursuit of Wisdom" in Eastern Christian Approaches to Philosophy (2022) and "The Incident of the Golden Calf in Pre-Islamic Syriac Authors" in Golden Calf Traditions in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (2018). Notable articles comprise "Ephrem the Syrian's Use of Beatitudes" (Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum, 2021), "Does God have a plan?" (New Blackfriars, 2017), and "The Transfiguration of Moses: A Survey and Analysis of St. Ephrem's Interpretation of Exodus 34:29" (Oriens Christianus, 2013). Hayes has presented extensively at conferences, including the North American Patristics Society meetings, and delivered public lectures such as webinars on Ephrem's poetry and theology. Through his work, he advances patristic scholarship and integrates historical theology into liberal arts education at the University of St. Thomas.