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Mar. 4, 2026 — The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE) is thrilled to announce that J. Jacob (Jake) Tawney will join the organization on March 23 as Director of Curriculum and Academic Resources. Tawney is a Catholic educator, academic leader, speaker and author whose voice has been prominent in classical liberal arts education. He previously served as the Chief Academic Officer for Great Hearts Academies, where he was a defining leader of the network’s academic life for over a decade. During his tenure at Great Hearts, Jake was instrumental in codifying a durable framework for curricular excellence and building a world-class academic team spanning curriculum, student data, and teacher support.
Among other duties, he will lead ICLE’s exciting new math initiative — a strategic effort to reclaim mathematics as an essential pillar of the Catholic liberal arts tradition, dedicated to renewing math education by moving from computation to understanding.
RECLAIMING A PILLAR OF THE LIBERAL ARTS
The initiative hopes to address a critical gap in modern education: the tendency to separate mathematics from the liberal arts, reducing the latter to the humanities. Tawney’s work will focus on restoring the Quadrivium — the four traditional mathematical arts of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy — to the K-12 curriculum, moving schools beyond mere computation toward genuine mathematical understanding and wonder.
“We are excited to welcome Jake to the ICLE team,” said ICLE President Ryan Messmore, D.Phil. “His expertise will help our schools bridge the gap between technical skill and the search for truth, beauty, and goodness found within the numerical order of creation. With Jake’s leadership, I believe that ICLE can help heal the rift between math and the liberal arts that exists in many Catholic schools today.”
FROM COMPUTATION TO UNDERSTANDING
“I look forward to working alongside ICLE schools to cultivate students’ love for mathematics as the art that bridges heaven and earth,” said Tawney. “I am grateful for the opportunity to join a talented ICLE faculty who believe that math is not just a tool for the sake of application, but an invitation to see the mind of the Creator.”
Tawney is widely known for his recent book, Another Sort of Mathematics: Selected Proofs Necessary to Acquire a True Education in Mathematics, which highlights that there is something unique in the human soul that can only be satisfied by wondering about mathematics. Many will remember his acclaimed plenary address at the 2024 ICLE National Conference, “Mathematical Wonder: Verum, Bonum, Pulchrum.”
WONDERING ABOUT MATHEMATICS
Jake has an undergraduate degree in mathematics and computer science from Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He continued his studies at The Ohio State University where he earned a masters degree in mathematics. After teaching all levels of high school mathematics and computer science for nearly a decade, Jake took on the role of Director of Student Services for a district in central Ohio. During his time in Ohio, Jake also taught at the Pontifical College Josephinum, including courses in Euclid and the Philosophy of Mathematics.
Jake is the proud husband of Christina Tawney and the proud father of eight children, all of whom have something unique in their souls that can only be satisfied by wondering about mathematics. He and his family reside in Phoenix, AZ.
TAWNEY TO GIVE PLENARY AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE
To celebrate the launch of this effort, Tawney will deliver a plenary session at the 2026 ICLE National Conference in Columbus, OH, this July. Educators and school leaders are invited to attend and learn how to transform their math programs from mere calculation into a deep encounter with the order of creation.
Don’t miss out on the growth in the renewal of the Catholic education movement, the exciting and expanding work of ICLE, Tawney’s plenary, and much more! Register today for the 2026 National Conference.