The Reverend Dr. Joseph R. Laracy
Seton Hall University
400 South Orange Avenue
South Orange, NJ 07079
United States of America

Publications
Father Joseph R. Laracy is a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark and member of Seton Hall University Priest Community. He serves as assistant professor of Systematic Theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. Father Laracy is also an affiliated faculty member with the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, the Program in Catholic Studies, the University Honors Program, and the University Core Curriculum. Father Laracy's principal theological interests are in the intersection of faith and reason, especially theology and science. A significant part of Father Laracy's research and teaching is focused on placing the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, especially theology, in dialogue with the formal, natural, and applied sciences. His recent theology courses include Revelation and Faith, Creation and Science, as well as Logotherapy and Theological Anthropology. Father Laracy's principal technical interests are in cybernetics and applied dynamical systems. His recent mathematics courses have covered topics in logic, dynamical systems theory, and differential equations.

Father Laracy earned the S.T.B., S.T.L., and S.T.D. (Fundamental Theology) degrees from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 2012, 2014, and 2019 respectively. His S.T.B. paper, under the direction of Monsignor Patrick Burke, was an analysis of the act of faith in the theology of Father Johann Brunsmann, SVD, and Father Pierre Rousselot, SJ. During his licentiate and doctoral studies, Father Laracy had the privilege of studying under Father Paul Haffner, and wrote his licentiate thesis on the compatibility of the theology of creation with the natural sciences in the thought of Pope Benedict XVI. Laracy's doctoral dissertation was a Catholic, Thomistic evaluation of the contributions of Ian Barbour to the theology and science field. Prior to theological studies in Rome, Father Laracy completed a two-year program in Thomistic philosophy and classical languages at Seton Hall.

Father Laracy’s early career interests at the Complex Systems Research Laboratory at MIT concentrated on uncertainty and dynamics in large-scale, complex engineering systems. He looked at key sources of uncertainty, ways to model and quantify uncertainty, and ways to maintain properties such as safety and security as systems change over time. His master’s degree research in Engineering Systems was supported in part by NASA Ames Research Center Grant NAG2-1543 (Model-Based Hazard Analysis Research) and National Science Foundation Grant CNS-0550008 (A Socio-Technical Approach to Internet Security). His thesis was entitled: A Systems-Theoretic Security Model for Large Scale, Complex Systems Applied to the US Air Transportation System. As an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois, he pursued research to develop a scalable RSA cryptographic co-processor under the direction of Professor Julian Palmore, supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant DMS 99-83160 (Vertical Integration of Research and Education in the Mathematical Sciences). Laracy also worked on a software pattern-based fly-by-wire aircraft control system with the guidance of Professor Ralph Johnson. In the course of his studies, he held engineering positions with Lucent Technologies (Wireless Terminal Interoperability Laboratory), Ball Aerospace and Technologies (NASA Deep Impact Mission), and Light Source Energy Services. He also served as a teaching assistant for a course on the Physics of Nuclear Weapons, Warfare, and Arms Control at Illinois. Laracy is an Eagle Scout and a graduate of West Essex Regional High School.

He is a member of various professional organizations. These include the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): Computer Society & Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society. Father Laracy is a member of the innaugral class of fellows of the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics.