Ronald J. Rychlak is Distinguished Professor and Jamie L. Whitten Chair in Law and Government at the University of Mississippi, where he has been on the law school faculty since 1987. In 2019, he received the university’s highest research and publication recognition, the “Distinguished Research and Creative Achievement Award.” In 2020, he was named the law school’s first ever Distinguished Professor. He earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt University and his B.A. from Wabash College.
Ron served for 13 years as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and currently serves as Faculty Athletics Representative, chair of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, and secretary of the Southeastern Conference Executive Committee. He is also legal advisor to the Holy See’s Delegation to the United Nations, chair of the Mississippi Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and past-president of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools. He serves on advisory boards for Ave Maria Law School, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Catholic Bar Association, and the Society of Catholic Social Scientists. He has authored 11 books, including Hitler, the War, and the Pope, which the Congregation for the Causes of Saints called “definitive” in its final report on Pius XII’s sainthood cause.
