Father Roland Akiki, known as Jean in religious life, is a full professor in the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and at the Pontifical School of Theology (PST) . He joined USEK as an assistant to the dean and philosophy professor at the PST from 1996 to 2001. In 2001, he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Human Sciences, a position he held until 2007. From 2010 to 2016, he served as Vice President for Research and President of the Higher Center for Research, later becoming Senior Vice President from 2016 to 2019. He currently serves as the Director of the Research Center on Minorities in the Middle East (RCMME).

His primary research and teaching areas include the Philosophy of Will (with a focus on Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Ricœur), Philosophy of the Far East (Taoism, Confucianism, Hinduism and Buddhism), Philosophy of Religion (symbolism, mysticism, religion and violence, beauty in theology, and the political purposes of prayer), Philosophy and Music, History of Ancient Greek Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Modern Atheism, and Philosophy of Art.

He is the author of several notable works, including Play and Mystic in Nietzsche (published in Arabic: نيتشه بين اللعب والتصوّف, PUSEK, 2002), The Political Purposes of Prayer (published in French: Les fins politiques de la prière, PUSEK, June 2010), and The Pre-Socratics: Greek – Arab, co-authored with Dr. Maroun Monsef, scheduled for publication in 2024 by PUSEK. He has also contributed to over a dozen collaborative books published between 2003 and 2009. Additionally, he is the author of plays Lazarus come forth and The Samaritan Woman, a musical drama in two acts, published by PUSEK in 2013.

Father Akiki is also an Associate Professor and researcher in the philosophy of religion at Sherbrooke University in Canada (since 2023) and a visiting professor at Babel College, Pontifical Faculty of Philosophy and Theology of the Chaldeans in Ankawa, Iraq (since 2009). Additionally, he is the Director of Research and Theses at USEK and participates as a rapporteur, examiner, and jury member for theses at USEK, USJ, the University of Montreal, and the University of Sherbrooke.

EDUCATION

• PhD in Philosophy, Strasbourg University – France
• MA in Philosophy, Strasbourg University – France
MA in Theology, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) – Lebanon
• BA/BS in Drama Studies, European University of Strasbourg – France