The Thomistic Institute is an academic institute of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies, a Catholicpontifical faculty run by the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) located in Washington, D.C.[1] Founded in 2009,[2] its name derives from the order's heritage of Thomas Aquinas,[3] as the institute is influenced by the Thomistic tradition.[4] The institute was originally founded as an academic research institute of the Pontifical Faculty, but evolved into a network of campus chapters at universities throughout the United States, England, and Ireland that sponsors lectures on theology, philosophy, ethics, and politics.[3] As of 2018[update], the institute had chapters at around 60 universities.[4] Counted among its past speakers are Scottish philosophers Alasdair MacIntyre and John Haldane,[5] French philosopher Remi Brague,[6] American philosopher Robert Sokolowski,[7] English philosopher Sir Roger Scruton,[8] Australian philosopher Mark Johnston,[9] the Theologian of the Pontifical Household Wojciech Giertych,[10] and United States Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.[11] In addition to individual lectures, the Institute has co-sponsored academic conferences with Harvard Law School,[12] Yale University,[13][14] New York University, Georgetown University,[15] and Notre Dame University,[16] among others. It also organizes an annual conference on Thomistic philosophy[17] at Mt. St. Mary's College in Newburgh, New York and an annual Thomistic Philosophy and Natural Science conference for faculty and graduate students in the experimental sciences and in philosophy, held in Washington, D.C.[18]