Administration
Meet the University's Senior Leadership
Jonathan J. Sanford, PhD, 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 society.
Ashton Ellis, JD, PhD, brings an extensive academic background and philanthropic experience to the role. Ellis served for nearly 10 years in fundraising at Hillsdale College, where he oversaw a nationwide team responsible for helping high-networth families make legacy-defining gifts. Prior to Hillsdale College, he taught at Pepperdine’s School of Public Policy and was a consultant to the Diocese of Orange in the fight to resist California’s legalizing assisted suicide. He was also awarded a bioethics fellowship by the Paul Ramsey Institute and a Novak Journalism Fellowship by The Fund for American Studies.
Ellis earned his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University in 2004 (Phi Beta Kappa), a master’s in public policy and administration from Baylor in 2005, a law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law and a PhD in political philosophy from Claremont Graduate University. He and his wife Lauren are the proud parents of 11 children.
Ryan D. Reedy, BA ’05 MH ’10, joined the University of Dallas in 2007 and currently serves as Chief of Staff and Vice President for Board Affairs. A graduate of Constantin College (history) and the Braniff Graduate School (humanities), Reedy has a long history with the University of Dallas, having previously served as the coach of the women's soccer team, vice director and assistant dean of the Eugene Constantin Campus in Rome, and assistant provost. In his role as assistant provost, Reedy assisted in the development of the university's strategic plan and coordinated relations with international partners. As Chief of Staff and Vice President for Board Affairs, Reedy oversees several strategic initiatives and is the primary staff liaison with the University’s Board of Trustees. A native of Colorado, Reedy, along with his wife and children, lived on the university's Rome campus for seven years before returning to North Texas in 2017.
Benjamin Gibbs, EdD, BA ’15 MBA ’17, currently serves as UD's chief operating officer. A graduate of Constantin College (history) and the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business (MBA), Gibbs has served in numerous departments at the University of Dallas, including advancement, student life, the Eugene Constantin Rome campus, the Office of the President, and finance. Away from UD, he served as deputy chief of staff at the University of Montana and earned his Doctor of Education in educational leadership and policy from the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include higher education leadership and presidential communications. As chief operating officer, Gibbs oversees facilities and capital project management, campus operations, vendor contracts and partnerships, real estate, the UD Police Department-Campus Safety, and risk management.
Clint Rain serves as Chief Financial Officer of the University of Dallas, where he leads the University’s financial strategy and oversees budget and planning, accounting and financial reporting, treasury, student accounts, and information technology. He joined UD in 2026. Before coming to the UD, Rain held leadership roles in public accounting and professional services, as well as in the accounting and finance functions at investment firms.
Rain holds a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Southwestern University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a Master in Professional Accounting from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Curt Eley serves as Vice President for Enrollment Management at the University of Dallas, overseeing undergraduate and graduate admission, financial aid, enrollment strategy, and operations.
During his earlier tenure as Dean of Enrollment Management at the University of Dallas, Eley delivered balanced budgets while maintaining high student academic quality. As Vice Provost at the University of Texas at Dallas, he led an enrollment turnaround after joining an institution that had experienced three consecutive years of flat enrollment, helping the university achieve its ten-year enrollment growth objectives in five years. He also revitalized engineering student recruitment at Texas A&M University and Southern Methodist University.
Throughout his career, Eley has worked with academic leaders to reposition academic programs and improve how prospective students understand their value. He has also led enrollment CRM implementations and was the executive responsible for delivering a campus-wide student information system on time, within budget, and with no significant audit findings.
Eley holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University.
Dr. John Norris received his Ph.D. from Marquette University. His research interests include St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and church history.
Cherie Hohertz, assistant provost for accreditation and strategic initiatives, has been with the University of Dallas for 23 years. Before serving as assistant provost, she held the position of dean of university libraries and research and director of institutional accreditation. She has served the university as an adjunct instructor in the Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of Business and is currently the staff accompanist for the music department.
Hohertz holds a bachelor’s of music in piano performance from Millsaps College, a master's of library science from Texas Woman’s University, and is currently a doctoral student in the Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of Business. Her research interests are centered around higher education faculty engagement, leader-member exchange, and job performance. Her most recent publications include articles on using technology to deliver library services to distance education students and information literacy skills among non-traditional students.
Richard J. Dougherty is a Professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Dallas in Irving, TX, Director of the Graduate Program in Politics, and the Director of the Leo XIII Center for Philosophy and Social Issues. He received his B.A. from Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Dallas’s Institute of Philosophic Studies. He edited and contributed to the 2019 work Augustine’s Political Thought (University of Rochester Press), which was selected as a 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title. He is a contributor to the most recent volume of Studia Patristica, to Divus Thomas and to The Oxford Guide to the Historical Reception of Augustine, and the Encyclopedia of the American Presidency. His research and teaching interests are in medieval political philosophy, the American presidency, and Catholic political and social thought.
Dr, Dougherty has taught full-time at the University of Dallas since 1990. In 2016 he served as a State of Bavaria Teaching Scholar as a Visiting Professor of Political Science, Department of Comparative Political Science, Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Inglostadt, Eichstätt, Germany.
In 2020 Dr. Dougherty was recognized as a Haggerty Teaching Excellence Recipient. In 2023 he began as Interim Dean of the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts at the University of Dallas. He is the first graduate of the Braniff School to serve as its Dean. Dr. Dougherty’s wife, Julie, is a UD graduate, as are eight of their children (so far).
Gregory Roper, Ph.D., has been Associate Professor of English since 2000 and previously served as Dean of Students, where he oversaw Residence Life, Housing Operations, Student Activities, the UD Counseling Center, and the UD Health Clinic.
A 1984 B.A. in English from the University, Dr. Roper received his M.A. and PhD in English from the University of Virginia, where he specialized in Middle English literature. He taught at the University of Virginia, Ripon College, and Northwest Missouri State University before returning to his alma mater, where he has served on the Rome campus (2003-05 and 2007-09) and as Chair of English from 2010 to 2019. He has served as the Director of the Shakespeare in Italy high school program and Shakespeare’s Baroque Rome adult program, and helped found the Rome and the Catholic Church program, all on the Due Santi campus. He directed the second season of UD’s film series, Studies in Catholic Faith and Culture, and contributed to the production of The Quest and Baylor’s 100 Days of Dante. A published scholar on Middle English lyrics, the Gawain-poet, and Chaucer, he is also the author of The Writer’s Workshop: Imitating Your Way to Better Writing, Due Santi and the University of Dallas: Un Piccolo Paradiso with Andrew Moran, and Mastering the Four Arguments in 2026. He authored a short book for UD students, A Life Well-Lived: A Student Guide to the Education of the Whole Person, which is the Disorientation summer read.
A winner of the Haggar Award, the Haggerty Teaching Award, and other teaching awards, Dr. Roper was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as an alumnus member and, in 2014, the UD Athletics Hall of Fame. He serves on the Board of Holy Trinity Seminary.
J. Lee Whittington formerly served as the founding director of Gupta COB doctoral programs. He focuses his teaching, research and consulting on organizational behavior and spiritual leadership. Whittington has published three books, including “Biblical Perspectives on Leadership and Organizations” and “Enhancing Employee Engagement: An Evidence-Based Approach,” which he authored with fellow professors Simone Meskelis, DBA ’17, Enoch Asare, DBA ’09, and Sri Beldona, Ph.D.
Ron Scrogham joined the University of Dallas in 2019, first as an adjunct instructor of French in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature, then as a reference librarian at the Cowan-Blakley Memorial Librarian, eventually being appointed the Dean and Director of Libraries and Research in 2022. Previously he taught French and was the school librarian at a Catholic high School in Kansas City, Mo. Scrogham holds an MA in French from the University of Kansas and an MLS from Emporia State University. He has published in academic journals for French and library science and has presented at library professional conferences.
Dr. Ronnie J. Rombs is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theology at the University of Dallas. A native of Texas, his doctoral work was in Patristics at Fordham University in New York City. His research and theological interests range from Augustine and the theological development of the Early Church to the twentieth century and the thought of Joseph Ratzinger in particular.
LaCoya Williams has been employed with UD since 2014. During this time, she has steadily advanced within HR. She also holds the position of Deputy Civil Rights and Title IX Coordinator and an Adjunct Instructor in the Satish and Yasmin College of Business.
She earned a Master of Science in Management and Leadership and a Bachelor of Business Administration, both from Tarleton State University.