History

• 1947: The Academy grew out of the National Benedictine Educational Association and was initiated by the American-Cassinese Congregation of monks, 30 December 1947.
• 1948: First meeting of the board of the Academy at St. Meinrad, Indiana. First sectional meetings, which were in a variety of academic disciplines.
• 1950: The Academy began publication of the American Benedictine Review.
• 1972: The governing structure of the Academy was simplified. The sectional structure of the Academy was replaced by a single grouping.
• 1975: The American Benedictine Review was separately incorporated.
• 1978: The focus of meetings shifted from academic fields to “Benedictine Heritage and Culture.”
• 1982: Membership was declared open to anyone who had a serious interest in Benedictinism.
• 1984: The Academy’s archive was established at the St. Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota, which became the legal address of the Academy as a not-for-profit corporation.
• 1995: The ABA website was launched on 2 December 1995.
• 1998: The Academy observed its fiftieth anniversary at its biennial convention at St. Vincent’s Archabbey, 9-12 August 1998.
• 2000: First pre-convention web workshop at St. Meinrad’s Archabbey.
• 2004: First CD publication of ABA convention 2002 Proceedings: “Mentors and Mentoring: Refounding the Tradition.”
• 2012: The Academy elects its first president from an ecumenical community, Martin Shannon of the Community of Jesus.
• 2016: Mercy Sister Julia Upton is the first Oblate president elected.