Qualifications

• Doctor of Sacred Theology (Summa cum laude), Pontifical  Gregorian University, Rome (2015)
• Licentiate in Sacred Theology (Summa cum laude), Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome (2005)
• Bachelor of Sacred Theology (Summa cum laude), Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome (2003)
• Bachelor of Philosophy (Magna cum laude), Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome (2007)
• Bachelor of Laws, University of Sydney (1976)
• Bachelor of Arts (Government and Public Policy, and History), University of Sydney (1975)

Areas of Research Interest

History, Religion and Culture of the Ancient and Greco-Roman Worlds; Hebrew and Christian Scriptures; Judeo-Christian Anthropology, Ethics, and Values; Prophetic Literature; Biblical Archaeology; Johannine Literature; New Testament and Historical Jesus; Interreligious Studies; and Biblical and Contemporary Spiritual Traditions.

Personal

After completing undergraduate degrees at the University of Sydney in Law and Arts, with majors in Government and Public Policy and Australian History, Ken practised as a corporate lawyer and managing partner of a national law firm. He has served as President of the City of Sydney Law Society. Ken has also served as Secretary-General (Oceania) of the Union Internationale des Avocats, a global and multi-cultural organisation for the legal profession that facilitates professional development, stimulates learning, and promotes the Rule of Law, having a special consultative status with the United Nations as an accredited NGO that is dedicated to defending Human Rights.

Ken has served on the Board of various Government Commercial, Cultural and Health institutions, including among others: President of the Museum of Applied Arts and Science (‘the Powerhouse Museum’), the Australian National Museum in Canberra, Eastern Sydney Area Health, TransGrid, the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, the Australian Theatre for Young People, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He was appointed to serve on two NSW Ministerial Advisory Councils, in the areas of Health and Education.

Having undertook studies in Philosophy and Theology in Rome, Ken obtained a doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University, specialising in the Judaic and Christian Scriptures, and the Ancient Near Eastern and Roman world. Upon completion of his doctorate, he was offered a number of teaching posts, eventually accepting an appointment as an adjunct professor at the Angelicum Pontifical University in Rome, whose student body represents some 95 countries in six continents. In 2019, Ken began teaching at the Catholic Institute of Sydney on the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures and Spiritual Theology.

To complement his teaching and research in Rome, which encompassed the legal systems, geography, history, cultures, philosophies, religions, and archaeology of the ancient and medieval worlds, Ken undertook extensive travel to most of the archaeological sites, the museums, monuments, and surrounding areas associated with the ancient and pre-modern world, particularly those mentioned in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. He visited all of Israel and Palestine (twice), Lebanon, Jordan (twice), Syria (twice), Turkey (six times), most of Egypt, Greece, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, parts of Eastern Europe, as well as the entirety of the islands of Crete, Malta, Cyprus (North and South), and the various Greek Islands mentioned in classical Greek literature and in the New Testament, meeting and engaging with local museum directors and archaeologists.