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IRVING, TX (Aug. 22, 2022) – The University of Dallas Board of Trustees recently appointed Most Rev. Daniel Flores, S.T.D, BA ’83 MDiv ’87, Bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, Mary Rice Hasson, Tom Craddick and Charles LiMandri as its newest members. The board also honored two long-serving trustees as they concluded their service, Cardinal Kevin Farrell and Mary Manning, at their June meeting.
“We are truly blessed to welcome several high-profile and very talented individuals who are committed to promoting the University of Dallas as the premiere Catholic university in the country,” said Board of Trustees Chairman Richard Husseini, BS ’88. “I look forward to working alongside them as we endeavor to realize the goals set forth in our strategic plan.”
The Board of Trustees also presented resolutions to recognize the service of two trustees – Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who has served on the board since 2016 and who was appointed by Pope Francis to serve in the Roman Curia, as prefect of the new Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life; and Mary Manning, who has served as a trustee since 2013, and held leadership positions including as chair of the Real Estate Committee.
“We are extremely grateful for the gifts of time and wise counsel that both Cardinal Farrell and Mary Manning have shared with the university during their tenure as trustees,” said President Jonathan J. Sanford, Ph.D.
Below are brief bios of the recently appointed trustees:
Bishop Daniel Flores, BA ’83 MDiv ’87, is one of nearly two dozen alumni who currently serve on the Board of Trustees. Flores was installed as the sixth bishop of Brownsville on Feb. 2, 2010, and is the third native Texan to serve the Rio Grande Valley as bishop. On a national level, as a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Flores currently serves as chair of the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church. During high school, he began to consider the possibility of studying for the priesthood for the Diocese of Corpus Christi. He attended the University of Texas at Austin for two years, prior to entering the seminary. In 1981, he entered Holy Trinity Seminary and at University of Dallas received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 1983 and a Master of Divinity in 1987. He completed his preparations for the priesthood in 1988. He completed his degree (S.T.D.) in 2000 at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) and returned to Corpus Christi that year. He was then appointed chancellor of the Diocese of Corpus Christi by Bishop Edmond Carmody, and in October 2006, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan, where he served until his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI to the Diocese of Brownsville.
Mary Rice Hasson, J.D., is the Kate O’Beirne Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. She directs the Catholic Women’s Forum, a network of Catholic professional women and scholars, and co-founded the Person and Identity Project, a new initiative that equips parents and faith-based institutions to engage the culture on topics such as gender ideology and promote the truth of the human person. An attorney and policy expert, Hasson served as keynote speaker for the Holy See during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, addressing education (2018), women and work (2017), caregiving (2019), and gender ideology (2019). She currently serves as a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, Life and Youth. Mary’s husband, Seamus Hasson, is a former UD trustee, and they are parents to four UD alumni and one current student.
Rep. Tom Craddick is a successful West Texas businessman, who serves as the state House Representative for District 82 and formerly served as Speaker of the House from 2003-09. He is a sales representative for Anchor Drilling Fluids USA, LLC, owns Craddick Properties, a Midland investment business, and is president of Craddick Inc. Craddick holds both a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration from Texas Tech University. Craddick is married to Nadine Nayfa, a native of Sweetwater, and they have two children, Christi and Thomas Russell Jr. They have a grandson, Tripp, and two granddaughters, Claire and Catherine. Over the past 12 years, Craddick has been a desk mate of Rep. Tan Parker, a UD trustee and 1993 alumnus, in the Texas House, where the two have often had occasion to discuss UD increasing Craddick’s awareness of and appreciation for the university. Craddick is a devout Catholic, and he and his wife are involved in a number of charitable causes.
Charles (Chuck) LiMandri is a San Diego, California, native and founding partner of LiMandri & Jonna LLP. A successful trial attorney and Constitutional law/First Amendment expert, LiMandri is also a devout Catholic and an advocate for religious freedom. He is a frequent author and lecturer who has appeared and been published locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. He had his own radio show, “From the Front Line of the Culture War,” on Catholic Radio of San Diego. LiMandri is a graduate of Georgetown Law School and alumnus of the University of San Diego. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Thomas More Studies based at UD, and is a past president of the San Diego chapter of Legatus, which is an international group of Catholic CEOs. He and his wife, Barbara, are parents of four UD alumni and one current student.
