Fr. Clyde F. Crews was born in Louisville in 1944, is a graduate of St. Xavier High School and earned a B.A. degree from Bellarmine College in 1966, graduating summa cum laude. It was at Bellarmine that Fr. Crews heard his calling to become a Diocesan priest. As a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship recipient, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in History of Christian Thought at Fordham University, New York City in 1968 and 1972. In 1973 Fr. Clyde Crews was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville after pastoral study at St. Meinrad Seminary.
Returning to Bellarmine as a theology professor in 1973, he has served in numerous roles including historian-in-residence, director of the Merton Center, chairman of the Theology department and academic dean. In addition to his academic duties, he frequently has been a consultant on numerous historical and museum projects.
In addition to his work as priest, professor, historian, administrator, and spiritual leader, Fr. Crews also a prolific writer, authoring eleven books, including An American Holy Land, Seasons of the Spirit, English Catholic Modernism, and American and Catholic: a Popular History of Catholicism in the United States. In 2002, A Benediction of Place: Historic Catholic Sacred Sites of Kentucky and Southern Indiana combined his love of photography with his expertise in local and regional Catholic church history. He has authored over fifty articles and reviews in scholarly journals, periodicals and articles appearing in the Courier-Journal.
On June 1,2007, Dr. Joseph J. McGowan appointed Fr. Crews to the position of Bellarmine University Historian and Archival Coordinator. Dr. McGowan stated, “Thanks to his perspective as both a Bellarmine University student and faculty member, his tenure as a theology professor, his history-writing, his gentle grace, charm and wit, and his profound love for the university and its city, Bellarmine and I are proud and grateful to welcome Fr. Crews to his new position. Please join me in congratulating Fr. Crews on his new appointment.”
The Father Abram J. Ryan Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians are extending our heartiest congratulations to the Reverend Clyde F. Crews as our 2011 Irishman of the Year.
