Dale Ahlquist

Dale Ahlquist
Ahlquist in May 2012
Born	(1958-06-14) June 14, 1958 (age 66) St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupation	Author

Dale Ahlquist (born June 14, 1958) is an American author and advocate of the thought of G. K. Chesterton. Ahlquist is the president and co-founder of the American Chesterton Society and the publisher of its magazine, Gilbert. He is also the co-founder of Chesterton Academy, a Catholic high school in Minneapolis. ^[1]

Background and education

Ahlquist received a B.A. from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, ^[2] and M.A. from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Ahlquist also holds a Doctor of Leadership, honoris causa, from the University of Mary. ^[3]

Conversion to Catholicism

Raised in a Baptist household, Dale Ahlquist observed the developing fragmentation of Protestant denominations. Reading G. K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man during his honeymoon in Rome profoundly changed his life and inevitably led to research into the Early Church Fathers and the history of the Catholic Church. Systematically, Dale began to see his point-by-point objections to Catholicism wither away on matters of the papacy, the sacraments of the Catholic Church, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. ^[4] In 1996 he founded the American Chesterton Society. He was received into the Catholic Church on the Feast of the Holy Family in 1997, along with his two oldest children Julian and Ashley. His wife, Laura, who had not been a practicing Catholic when they met, also returned to the Church.

American Chesterton Society

The American Chesterton Society (ACS) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization co-founded by Dale Ahlquist in 1996 with the mission of promoting interest in English author, G. K. Chesterton. ^[5] The ACS is the leading resource for scholarly research on Chesterton, hosts annual conferences across the United States and abroad, international pilgrimages, and offers guidance to more than 60 local societies dedicated to Chesterton around the world including Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, and Russia. ^[6] In 2000, Ahlquist quit his job as a political lobbyist to run the American Chesterton Society full-time. ^[7]

Chesterton Academy

Dale Ahlquist is the co-founder of Chesterton Academy, a high school in Hopkins, Minnesota, that is centered on G. K. Chesterton’s ideas of integrated learning. ^[8] Launched in the fall of 2008 with just 10 students, the school now enrolls more than 100 students in grades nine through twelve and offers summer school programs, options for homeschool students, and adult enrichment classes.

References

1. "2012 Catholic High School Honor Roll Top 50". Catholichonorroll.org. Archived from the original on 2012-09-23. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
2. Carleton College, Dale Ahlquist '80 interviewed in Star Tribune
3. University of Mary. "History of Honorary Degrees". University of Mary. University of Mary. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
4. "Upon This Rock — That Doesn't Roll – Conversion Story of Dale Ahlquist | The Coming Home Network". Chnetwork.org. 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
5. "American Chesterton Society | G.K. Chesterton for the 21st Century". Chesterton.org. 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
6. "Local Societies". Chesterton.org. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
7. Katherine Kersten At home with British mastermind's legacy. Minneapolis Star-Tribune, June 6, 2005
8. "Board of Directors". Chesterton Academy. Retrieved 2013-09-05.