Personal

[The image was taken near my hometown in Austria, during a hiking tour in the mountains near Fließ]

I was born in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian state of Tyrol, and raised in Landeck. After high school, I joined the Society of the Divine Word, studied philosophy and theology at St. Gabriel near Vienna, was ordained a priest, and served the churches in Plumtree and Bulawayo, in the south of Zimbabwe, before studying anthropology in the United States of America. After receiving a PhD in Anthropology and a Certificate in African Studies from the University of Florida in Gainesville, USA, I lived in a community of my religious community near Bonn, Germany, to teach anthropology at the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Sankt Augustin, which has moved to Cologne and was renamed Kölner Hochschule für Katholische Theologie, and to join the editorial team of Anthropos. From 2007 to 2025, I lived in Omaha, USA, and taught at Creighton University. I currently live in East Troy, Wisconsin, USA, with my religious community and serve as the Coordinator for Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation for the Chicago Province of my community. I draw inspiration from and become energized by my faith and ministry, research and mentoring students, engaging with communities, spending time with friends, and being in nature.