Valor Institute Retreat Leaders

Independent Scholar

Dr. Hilary Finley formerly served as adjunct professor of English at St Louis University. She received her Doctorate in Literature from the University of Dallas, after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and Catholic Culture from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. She taught English Literature for Holy Apostles College, including courses on Novel and Poetry and Catholic English Literature. She also offered occasional lectures on various aspects of literature for St. Louis University. Hilary lives in San Diego with her husband and three children.

Academic Director, Valor Institute

Prior to joining Valor, Dr. Finley was Professor of Philosophy at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. For several years he was a tutor at Thomas Aquinas College in California, where he led seminars in an interdisciplinary Great Books program.

He has authored several publications on philosophical anthropology, metaphysics, phenomenology, and Ancient and Medieval philosophy and is a member of the Aquinas Institute of Blackfriars Hall at the University of Oxford. Dr. Finley received his masters and doctorate in philosophy from the University of Dallas and his Bachelor of Arts from Thomas Aquinas College. In 2016 he was awarded a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to pursue collaborative research on the human person from the standpoints of science, medicine, philosophy, and theology.

Associate Professor of History at the University of Dallas

Dr. Hanssen received her graduate degree in history from Rice University in Houston, TX. She received her undergraduate degree in history from Boston University (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa). During the summer of 2008 she was adjunct professor for the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation at Georgetown University. She was the 2010-2011 Garwood Fellow at the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Politics at the University of Mary

Michael F. Hickman, PhD, completed his doctoral studies in Political Theory at the Catholic University of America in 2014. Prior to beginning doctoral work, he practiced law for five years in South Carolina and Washington, DC. Other degrees include a JD from Ave Maria School of Law, a Master of Politics from the University of Dallas, and a BS in Psychology from the College of Charleston. He joined the University of Mary faculty in 2014. Hickman is Chair of the Politics Program and teaches classes in politics, law, and occasionally philosophy.

His scholarly interests currently focus on the nature of the political community and exploring how resources from Husserl’s phenomenology can be brought to bear on this question.

Ph.D. Candidate, Pontifical John Paul II Institute

Andrew Shivone received his B.A. in Liberal Education from the College of St. Thomas More and his Master's from the University of Dallas and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute on the thought of Ferdinand Ulrich. He has spent over a decade leading classical Catholic and charter schools in Texas.

Professor of Politics at Catholic University of America

Mr. Walsh’s focus has been on the question that the modern world poses for itself at its deepest level. Does our civilization possess the moral and spiritual resources to survive? In response to that question Walsh has traced the modern retrieval order in a trilogy of works. One of the results of Dr. Walsh’s studies has been a renewed interest in the centrality of the person from whom order radiates into social and political existence. The first phase of this new direction has appeared in Politics of the Person as the Politics of Being (2016), followed by a companion volume, The Priority of the Person (2020). His current book project is “The Invisible Source of Authority: God in a Secular Age.”

President and Chief Executive Officer, Valor Education

Prior to starting Valor, Mr. Williams served as Executive Director of Great Hearts in San Antonio for three years. In this capacity, he oversaw the founding of two high-performing K-12 liberal arts charter schools. Prior to moving to San Antonio, Mr. Williams served for five years as the Headmaster of Glendale Preparatory Academy.

In addition to his roles in school and executive leadership, Mr. Williams enjoyed a distinguished teaching career, beginning in public high school in New Jersey. The heart of his teaching revolved around the creation of an integrated humanities program that brought the best of art, music, literature, and philosophy to his students. In recognition of his teaching achievement, the National Endowment for the Humanities named him New Jersey Teacher of the Year, and the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly passed a joint legislative resolution acclaiming his excellence in teaching. Mr. Williams has also taught at the college level at the University of Dallas where he studied philosophy as a doctoral student.

A graduate of Fairfield University, he holds Masters degrees in History, Liberal Arts, and Theology from the University of Notre Dame, St. John’s College, and the John Paul II Pontifical Institute. Mr. Williams also completed the Institute for Comparative Political and Economic Systems program at Georgetown University, and he is a CTI-trained professional coach.