Fr. Paul Mueller SJ earned a bachelor of arts (B.S.) summa cum laude in physics at Boston University. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1982. As a Jesuit he completed a Master of Arts (M.A.) in philosophy at Loyola University Chicago in 1986, and taught physics and mathematics at St. Ignatius College Preparatory School in Chicago from 1986 to 1989. He then earned two degrees at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley: master of divinity (M.Div) in 1992, and master of sacred theology (S.T.M.) in 1993.
Fr. Mueller was ordained a priest in 1993 at St. Xavier Church in Cincinnati. After ordination, he earned a master of science (M.S.) in physics in 1996 at the University of Chicago. He completed his doctorate (Ph.D.) in 2006 through the University of Chicago’s interdisciplinary Committee for Conceptual Historical Studies of Science. In his dissertation, he provided an annotated translation of Marin Mersenne’s Questions Théologiques, Physiques, Morales et Mathématiques (1634). Fr. Mueller was appointed religious superior of the Jesuit community at the Vatican Observatory in 2010.