Francis J. Ambrosio

Born in the Bronx, New York, Frank Ambrosio graduated from Regis High School in Manhattan and received a B.A. in Literature and Philosophy from Fordham University, where he was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After studies in Italian language and literature in Florence, Italy, he completed his doctoral degree at Fordham University with a specialization in contemporary European Philosophy and a dissertation on H-G. Gadamer’s hermeneutics. He worked as Assistant to the President and Director of Institutional Planning at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. Currently he is a member of the faculty of the Department of Philosophy of Georgetown University, where he holds the rank of Associate Professor. He has published widely in scholarly journals, writing on hermeneutics, especially the work of Gadamer. In addition, he is the editor of two books, Text and Teaching (with Michael J. Collins, Georgetown University Press, 1986) and The Question of Christian Philosophy Today (Fordham University Press, 2000).

His most recent book is Dante and Derrida: Face to Face, (State University of New York Press, 2007). He currently teaches courses at Georgetown on Plato, Existentialism, Dante, Gadamer, and Derrida.

In collaboration with Deborah Warin, former Director of Continuing Education at Georgetown University and currently with the American Council on Education, he co-directs The Renaissance Company, leading study programs focusing on the development of the Italian Renaissance. His study of the painting of Fra Angelico appears in The Question of Christian Philosophy Today.

In October 2009 The Teaching Company released his course, "Philosophy, Religion and the Meaning of Life," a series of 36 half-hour lectures which he created for the "Great Courses" series.