Edward Foley is Professor of Liturgy and Music and the founding Director of the Ecumenical D.Min. Program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He currently serves as the external examiner for the graduate program in ritual song at the University of Limerick, Ireland. A member of the Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order since 1966 he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1975. He earned an M.Div. (1975) from St. Francis School of Pastoral Ministry in Milwaukee, an M.M. in choral conducting (1975) from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, an M.A. in liturgical research (1980), an M.A. in Liturgy (in course, 1983), and the Ph.D. in Theology (1987) from the University of Notre Dame.

A specialist in worship and the arts, Foley identifies himself as a practical theologian. He has 18 books to his credit, including Worship Music: A Concise Dictionary (2000), Preaching Basics (1998), Mighty Stories, Dangerous Rituals co-authored with Herbert Anderson (1997), Ritual Music (1995), Developmental Disabilities and Sacramental Access (1994), and the well known From Age to Age (1991), which has recently been completely revised and expanded and will appear in 2008. His most recent publication is A Commentary on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, for which he served as general editor and which received a first place Catholic Press Award for excellence in liturgy. Foley has also authored over 300 scholarly and pastoral articles and reviews in such prestigious collections as The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, and Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart and in journals such as Liturgisches Jahrbuch, La Maison-Dieu, Revue Bénédictine, Speculum and Worship. He sits on a number of editorial boards. His current research projects include a project on integration funded by the Lilly Foundation and a project on preaching funded by the Humanitas Foundation, as well as a book on the liturgical music documents of the US Catholic Bishops.

Foley is Past-President of the North American Academy of Liturgy, and a founder and originating member of the executive committee of the Catholic Academy of Liturgy. He currently sits on the executive committee of the International Academy of Practical Theology. A well known speaker and teacher, he has lectured in over 50 dioceses throughout the United States, in Canada, Ireland, India, Europe and Australia. This coming year his lectures will include those for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, a presentation for the Liturgical Institute of the University of Tilurg in the Netherlands, the Los Angeles Religious Education Conference, and St. Xavier University. He was granted the mandatum as a teacher of Roman Catholic theology from Francis Cardinal George.