Mel Piehl received his BA from Valparaiso University and his PhD from Stanford University. His scholarly interests center on American intellectual and religious history, with particular attention to American Catholic history and the relations between religion and social thought. Piehl's book Breaking Bread: The Catholic Worker and the Origin of Catholic Radicalism in America was a finalist for the Robert Kennedy National Book Award; a new edition of the book was published in 2007. He is co-author of an American history text, The Brief American Pageant. His writings on American Catholicism have appeared in a number of books and journals. Piehl served as the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Dayton in 2001-2002.