Jonathan J. Sanford, Ph.D., is the 10th president of the University of Dallas. President Sanford came to the university as dean of Constantin College in 2015 and was elevated to provost in 2018. As provost, Sanford oversaw all academic deans and departments, including the Constantin College of Liberal Arts, Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts, Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of Business, what is now the Ann and Joe O. Neuhoff Institute for Ministry and Evangelization, the dean of university libraries and research, and the dean of the Rome campus. Dr. Sanford also oversaw the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, the Office of Personal Career Development, the registrar and the departments of athletics and campus ministry, in addition to special outreach projects such as UD’s Studies in Catholic Faith and Culture program.
While serving as provost, Dr. Sanford managed the development of the university’s new strategic plan, and as Board of Trustees Chairman Richard Husseini noted, “Dr. Sanford is ideally suited to ensure the implementation of the university’s strategic plan as president. Both as dean and as provost, he has excelled in strengthening the faculty and encouraging our students to excel in their studies and in their post-graduate appointments; developed a greater focus on grants and awards; built new philanthropic opportunities; strengthened UD’s Catholic identity; overseen the development of new programs and initiatives; and elevated the university’s reputation.”
Dr. Sanford, who holds the rank of professor and is tenured in the Philosophy Department, graduated summa cum laude from Xavier University, majoring in classical languages and philosophy, in 1997. Dr. Sanford received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Buffalo, State University of New York in 2001, and received a postdoctoral fellowship from Fordham University in 2001-02. Sanford served at Franciscan University of Steubenville for 13 years before joining the University of Dallas in 2015. In addition to his academic responsibilities at Franciscan University, Dr. Sanford held the administrative positions of associate vice president for academic affairs and chair of philosophy, and also served in the role of the principal elected faculty representative.
Sanford has published widely on philosophical figures and topics, especially in foundational questions in moral philosophy, as evidenced in “Before Virtue: Assessing Contemporary Virtue Ethics” (The Catholic University of America Press 2015). Sanford is currently writing a book on virtue and education. He frequently lectures to both scholarly and popular audiences on a variety of topics. For the past three years, he has hosted the monthly “Good News at UD” portion of the Good News Show on Guadalupe Radio (KATH 910 AM).
Sanford is a trustee of the Hildebrand Project, a member of the executive committee and the executive council of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, a member of the Dallas board of Legatus, a fellow of the Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture, and a board member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, and is active in several other professional and academic organizations. His wife, Rebecca, is a registered nurse and founding board member of Mighty Is Her Call, a Catholic mothers’ ministry recognized by the Diocese of Dallas. The Sanfords, parishioners at St. Rita Catholic Church in Dallas, have nine children and two granddaughters, and live with their younger children in Irving, Texas.