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Margaret Monahan Hogan, Ph.D., a nationally recognized scholar, ethicist, educator, and former King’s College faculty member, will deliver the keynote address during King’s College Summer Commencement on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, at the William S. Scandlon Physical Education Center.

Hogan will address a group of 95 graduates, many of whom will receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the health sciences and education. The procession of graduates begins at 10:00 a.m. and will be livestreamed at /commencement.

A former chair of the King’s College Philosophy Department and founding director of the College’s Center for Ethics and Public Life, Hogan has dedicated her career to advancing ethical leadership, Catholic intellectual life, and the integration of faith and reason in higher education.

“I am delighted and honored to address the King’s College Class of 2026 and to reflect on the Holy Cross charism that formed me as a professor at King’s and formed the members of this class in their time at King’s.  May they be the carriers of that charism into the world,” said Hogan.

Hogan currently serves as the inaugural director of Medical Humanities at Collegium at the University of Pennsylvania and is a senior affiliate of the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society (PRRUCS) at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a trustee of the Collegium Institute.

Throughout her distinguished academic career, Hogan has held numerous leadership positions, including serving as the inaugural McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair of Ethics and as founding director of the Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and American Culture at the University of Portland, where she is now professor emeritus of philosophy.

Her influence extends far beyond the classroom. Hogan has served as an advisor to the Pontifical Council on Culture and has consulted with popes, cardinals, members of Congress, and members of the judiciary on matters related to ethics, culture, and public life. She has also served as a medical ethicist for the Allied Health System and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital; vice chair of the Board of Pius X Seminary; chair of the Luzerne County Accountability, Conduct, and Ethics Commission; and a member of the Independent Review Board for the Diocese of Scranton for 15 years.

Her scholarship has earned national recognition. In 2007, she delivered the prestigious Clarke Family Lecture in Medical Ethics at the University of Notre Dame, addressing “The Gordian Knot of Bioethics.” In 2009, she presented the Anselm Lecture at the University of Virginia on the ethics of genetic engineering. She was honored with the Amethyst Award from Immaculata University in 2013 for her contributions to ethics and Catholic higher education.

For 25 years, Hogan served as a faculty member at the Notre Dame Medical Ethics Conference and was a fellow of the University of Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture from 1999 to 2024. She also served as president of the Center for Academic Integrity from 2001 to 2002.

“Dr. Hogan’s commitment to intellectual rigor, a living faith, and to student formation places her among the most impactful professors in the history of King’s College. Her life and her life’s work portray what we hope for every King’s graduate,” said Rev. Thomas P. Looney, C.S.C., Ph.D., president of the College. “King’s forms graduates who will champion the inherent dignity of every person and will mobilize their talents and professional skills to serve the common good. I am thrilled that Peg will address our graduates, for she is a model of our hope for every graduate from King’s.”