Fr. Emmanuel Katongole, professor of theology and peace studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs and Kellogg faculty fellow, has been appointed director of the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, effective July 1, 2026.
“The Ansari Institute plays a vital role in advancing Notre Dame’s commitment to understanding religion as a force for good in global affairs,” said Mary Gallagher, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School. “Fr. Katongole brings extraordinary scholarly insight, global experience and a deep commitment to integral human development, a pillar of the Keough School’s research, teaching and policy work. His leadership will strengthen the institute’s mission and expand its global impact.”
A Catholic priest ordained by the Archdiocese of Kampala, Uganda, Katongole serves as a faculty fellow and advisory committee member for the Ansari Institute and is a core affiliated faculty member at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. His research focuses on the Christian social imagination, integral ecology and faith-based approaches to justice and reconciliation.
An accomplished scholar, Katongole is the author of ten books exploring the intersections of faith, society and the environment in Africa. His book, Who Are My People? Love, Violence, and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa, received widespread recognition.
Katongole is also a co-founder and director of Bethany Land Institute in rural Uganda. At this institute, he advances the vision of "integral ecology” as proclaimed in Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si.’ The institute offers a two-year program in regenerative agriculture and entrepreneurship aimed at addressing poverty and environmental degradation.
“I am greatly honored to be invited to lead the Ansari Institute at this particular time and thus contribute to the mission of the Keough School through a dynamic, interdisciplinary and ongoing engagement with religion in all its dimensions,” said Katongole. “I am excited by the opportunity to deepen and strengthen the programs underway at the Ansari, while building up the Institute as a preeminent program for the study, research and advancement of religion as a force for good in the world and the promotion of Integral Human Development.”
During his five-year term as director, Katongole will work closely with faculty and staff to shape a distinctive vision for the institute, with a particular focus on the relationship between religion and integral human development.
Katongole earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain, as well as undergraduate degrees in philosophy and in theology from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. He also holds a diploma in theology and religious studies from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Prior to joining Notre Dame, he served as associate professor of theology and world Christianity at Duke University, where he was the founding co-director of the Duke Divinity School’s Center for Reconciliation.