Jonathan J. Sanford, Ph.D., is the 10th president of the University of Dallas, having assumed the position in 2021. As president, Dr. Sanford has dedicated his efforts to leading the University of Dallas to more fully realizing its calling as a premier Catholic liberal arts university by means of a thoroughgoing commitment to academic excellence, a distinctive and thoroughly nurturing approach to forming the character of our students, and the cultivation of true magnanimity in service to church and country. Dr. Sanford has published widely on philosophical figures and topics, especially in foundational questions of moral philosophy. His books include Before Virtue: Assessing Contemporary Virtue Ethics (The Catholic University of America Press, 2015) and The Philosophical Legacy of Jorge J. E. Gracia (Rowman and Littlefield, 2022). He frequently speaks, provides interviews, and publishes on central issues in higher education, virtue theory, Catholicism, and culture. Dr. Sanford is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hildebrand Project, a member of the American Academy of Catholic Scholars and Artists, a Board Director of Great Hearts Texas, and a member of the Dallas Chapter of Legatus. He and his wife Rebecca, a founding board member of the Catholic women’s ministry Mighty is Her Call, have nine children and six grandchildren, and live in Irving, Texas.
