Brian Tierney

Professor Brian Tierney is the Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor Emeritus in Humanistic Studies at Cornell University. From 1951-1959, Tierney served as Instructor, Assistant Professor, and Associate Professor in the History Department at the Catholic University of America. Afterwards, he joined Cornell University and became the Goldwin Smith Professor of Medieval History in 1969. His work is concerned mainly with the development of constitutional thought in the church and its influence on secular political ideas during the period 1100-1700. This involves studies on fourteenth-century Conciliarism, on medieval origins of the doctrine of papal infallibility, and on the early history of the idea on natural rights. Tierney is the past president of the American Catholic Historical Association, member of the American Philosophical Society, and a fellow of the British Academy and Medieval Academy of America. Tierney is the recipient of the Haskins Medal and the Quasten Medal of Catholic University.