The Franciscan Institute Medal 1988

THE FRANCISCAN INSTITUTE MEDAL 1988 CITATION THE FRANCISCAN INSTITUTE of SAINT BONAVENTURE UNIVERSITY is privileged to honor as the second recipient of its medal for outstanding contributions to scholarship in Franciscan Studies, THE REVEREND ALLAN BERNARD WOLTER, O.F.M. Father Allan has devoted more than forty years to the task of elucidating the thought of John Duns Scotus. The books and articles which embody the fruits of his research have merited him the esteem of medievalists, and his translations and commentaries on the Subtle Doctor's writings have won him the admiration of scholars throughout the English-speaking world. He has also made significant contributions to the literature of Franciscan spirituality. Fr. Allan's association with The Franciscan Institute began in 1946. Since that time he has played a major role in the Institute's teaching, research and publication programs. During his twenty-twoyear tenure at the Catholic University of America he proved himself an exceptionally-effective communicator of the Franciscan message to the contemporary world. Our medalist has likewise won recognition for his writings on such disparate subjects as atomic structure, parapsychology, linguistics , formal logic, and mathematical theory. Few Franciscans have so thoroughly exemplified the Bonavensurian motto: In Sanctitate et Doctrina. ALLAN B. WOLTER, O.F.M. Second Recipient of the Franciscan Institute Medal July 14, 1988 THE FRANCISCAN INSTITUTE MEDAL The silver medallion bears the legend "Scholarship in Franciscan Studies" and the effigies of the four great Franciscan teachers: St. Anthony of Padua, St. Bonaventure, John Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham, the Venerable Inceptor. Completing the circle of the four doctors is the name of the honorée and the year of the award. FRAiVc % WOLTER ALLAN SPIRI VITA On the reverse side of the medal is the seal of The Franciscan Institute bearing the Tau-cross-signature of St. Francis and the Institute motto, "Spirit and Life." ALLAN BERNARD WOLTER, O.F.M. Bernard Vincent Wolter, Father Allan as he would be known as a Franciscan friar, was born in Peoria, Illinois, November 24, 1913. He was the eldest of three children born into a family descended from German immigrant craftsmen. Both his intellectual curiosity and his religious faith were fostered at home where the reading of books was encouraged and where two uncles who were Franciscan friars were frequent visitors. A brother, Fr. Martin Wolter, would also become a Franciscan friar. At the age of thirteen, in September 1927, Bernard entered the Franciscan minor seminary, then located in what is now Oak Brook, Illinois. He joined the Order of Friars Minor, receiving his religious name, in August of 1933, at Teutopolis, Illinois. After simple profession one year later, he pursued philosophical studies for three years at Our Lady of the Angels Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio, and theology for four years at St. Joseph Seminary in Teutopolis. He was ordained a priest on June 24, 1940. Post-seminary studies began at the Catholic University of America in Washington in September 1941 and continued after he received his M.A. in 1942, until September 1943. Called back to teach in the Cleveland seminary where he had studied, he so distinguished himself that after two years he returned to Catholic University in the summer of 1945 to work for his doctorate in philosophy. Because of his interest in the Franciscan School and in science. Catholic University authorities allowed Fr. Allan to pursue his research under the direction of Fr. Philotheus Boehner, the German friar, botanist, and philosopher who was establishing the reputation of the new Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure College in Allegany, New York. Boehner directed Fr. Allan's thesis on Scotus's theory of transcendentals, subsequently published by both Catholic University and the Franciscan Institute. On the awarding of his Ph.D. in 1946, Fr. Allan was persuaded by Boehner to join the faculty of the Franciscan Institute. He taught there from 1949 to i960, at great inconvenience during the first two years when he commuted from the Cleveland seminary where he was also on the faculty. At the Institute, 358 Fr. Allan was editor of this review, Franciscan Studies, from 1949 to 1952, and of the philosophy series of Franciscan Institute Publications , 1946-62. He...