March 5, 2025
Wheeling University Business Program to Host Lecture March 13
WHEELING, W.Va., March 5 – Thomas Michaud, Ph.D., will offer a lecture to students and the general public as part of Wheeling University’s Institute for the Study of Capitalism and Morality (ISCM).
Michaud, a former member of the faculty at Wheeling University, will present “After Justice: Christian Challenges to Progressivism.” The lecture will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 13 at Hawk Auditorium located inside Acker Science Center.
Dr. Edward W. Younkins, executive director of the ISCM, said “We are honored to have Dr. Michaud back on campus to deliver this talk. Tom was the director of our major in Political and Economic Philosophy and a member of the original board of the ISCM. Through our collaboration, we wrote a proposal to the BB&T Foundation. As a result of that grant proposal, BB&T awarded Wheeling University $700,000 two decades ago to establish ISCM and this lecture series.”
Michaud’s presentation will examine how and why principles of traditional Catholic Christian philosophy can effectively challenge the ideological positions of progressive justice.
“What we have traditionally believed about justice has been dramatically transformed in current society. Due to the progressive movement, justice has become a political ideology filled with controversial issues,” he explained.
Michaud believes that it is very important today to oppose progressive ideology and affirm the basic values of the individual human person, namely, personal autonomy and moral responsibility, self-reliance, personal achievement, and personal property and wealth.
In addition to teaching at Wheeling, Michaud is the retired dean of West Liberty University’s School of Professional Studies. He earned his master’s and doctorate degrees from Marquette University and a bachelor’s from Fairfield University. Additionally, he has taught at Marquette University, Mount St. Mary’s University, Siena University, and Rockhurst University.
Dr. Michaud also has broad international experience, including a Smith Research Fellowship for the Husserl Archives in Louvain, Belgium, a Fulbright Senior Lectureship for the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a Lecturer for the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland.
Outside the classroom, Michaud has offered seminars in leadership and ethics for government and civic groups, professional associations, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions. He has designed and delivered leadership ethics education programs for Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corp., Columbia Gas Transmission Corp., Columbia Gulf Transmission Company, Columbia Natural Resources Corp., Cabela’s Distribution Center, and Dermox Corp.
“This lecture by Dr. Michaud will benefit not only our students at Wheeling University, but members of the community. The lecture is open to the University campus community as well as greater Wheeling community, who will hopefully join us in this discussion,” said Dr. Younkins.Wheeling University’s Institute for the Study of Capitalism and Morality (ISCM) addresses the ways in which the foundations and principles of morality are, can, and should be integrated into free-market capitalism. The Institute represents a natural extension of the University’s long-standing commitment to a liberal arts education in accord with, and based upon, traditional Ignatian values. It also serves as an interactive public forum designed to invite civil debate. A goal of the Institute is to facilitate an exchange of ideas between the disciplines so as to provide a more complete understanding of Capitalism as a just and moral system.