Frank Hanna III

Contents

Frank J. Hanna III is an American entrepreneur, merchant banker and philanthropist. He was one of three entrepreneurs profiled in the Acton Institute and PBS documentary film The Call of the Entrepreneur.[1]

Hanna has been described as "one of the leading Catholic philanthropists in the USA."[2]

Education and career

Hanna was a corporate attorney with Troutman Sanders, a multi city law firm headquartered in Atlanta. Since 2006, he has served as CEO of an investment firm, Hanna Capital, LLC.[3]

Hanna received his BBA from the University of Georgia where he was a Foundation Fellow and a Truman Scholar.[4] He subsequently received his JD from the University of Georgia School of Law.[5] Hanna and his younger brother David[6] devised a methodology for the valuation of loan portfolios. The brothers founded an investment firm to employ this methodology, which they later sold to a private equity firm.[7]

Public service

Hanna has been devoted to the cause of education for over 40 years. He has helped start and fund fourteen educational initiatives, ranging from preschool to the post-secondary level.[8]

In 2002, Hanna was chosen by George W. Bush to be co-chair of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans[9] and oversaw the production and delivery of its report to the President, From Risk to Opportunity.[10]

Catholic service

Hanna has spoken to Catholic leaders at conferences at the Vatican and has often been a featured guest on local and national media programs.[11] For decades Hanna has served on the boards of numerous organizations in support of the Catholic Church in Atlanta, nationally, and at the Vatican.

He is the founder of The Solidarity Association,[12] an Association of the Christian Faithful established with the approval and guidance of the late Archbishop John F. Donoghue. The Association seeks to strengthen and renew the Church by assisting in critical missions within the Church for which others may not be equipped.

Hanna Papyrus I

By means of The Solidarity Association, Hanna obtained from the Bodmer Foundation in Cologny, Switzerland the Hanna Papyrus I, previously known as Bodmer Papyri XIV-XV.[13] Dating from between 175 and 225 AD, this papyrus contains the oldest extant copy of portions of the Gospels of Luke and John as well as the oldest transcription of the "Our Father" prayer. In January 2007, Hanna and his family presented the papyrus to Pope Benedict XVI in a ceremony at the Vatican.[14]

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran—then prefect of the Vatican Library—stated that "[t]he papyrus contains about half of each of the Gospels of Luke and John. It was written in Egypt and perhaps used as a liturgical book." The original Hanna Papyrus I is preserved in the Vatican Library’s secure vaults, while high-quality facsimiles are used for public exhibition and scholarly study worldwide.[15]

What Your Money Means

Published in 2008, What Your Money Means (And How to Use It Well)[16] lays out paradigms for ethical engagement with wealth and delineates philanthropic strategies.[17]

Hanna turns to the wisdom of various ages and cultures to affirm the fundamental premise that no matter how much of the goods of the earth we may acquire individually, we are never more than stewards of those goods, called to use them for our own good and the good of others.

About this book, Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza, said: "I highly recommend this book to everyone who plans to engage in charitable giving no matter how much money they may have to give."

A Graduate's Guide to Life

In 2017, Beacon Publishing published A Graduate's Guide to Life: Three Things They Don't Teach You in College That Could Make All the Difference.[18]

In George Weigel's "The Summer Reading List" from 2017, he notes that the book "offers those just getting started in life nuggets of wisdom, drawn from the experience of a successful Catholic entrepreneur and generous philanthropist."[19]

Honours

Orders

Philanthropic

In recognition of his decades of sustained public service in education and other fields, Hanna received the Philanthropy Roundtable's William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership "for his national leadership in K-12 education reform."[20][21] He was also awarded the David R. Jones Award for Philanthropic Leadership[22] by The Fund for American Studies.[23]

References

  1. 1."The Call of the Entrepreneur". www.calloftheentrepreneur.com.
  2. 2.Hudson, Deal W. "Money: Making It, Spending It, Giving It Away." Catholic Online. 23 October 2008. [1] Archived 2009-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 3."Frank Hanna".
  4. 4."Scholar Listing | The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation". www.truman.gov. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  5. 5."Hanna Capital LLC -- Frank Hanna and David Hanna -- About Frank Hanna". Archived from the original on 2009-04-13. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  6. 6.David Hanna is currently the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Atlanticus.
  7. 7.Brooks, Arthur C. "Q&A: Frank Hanna on the Meaning of Money", Reader's Digest (April 2009), p. 41.
  8. 8.University, Catholic. "Frank J. Hanna III". The Catholic University of America. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  9. 9."Acton Institute Board of Directors Member Appointed to Co-Chair President's Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans." Acton Institute. 30 January 2002. [2] Archived 2009-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
  10. 10."From Risk to Opportunity."
  11. 11."Hanna speaks at Eucharistic Congress". solidarityassociation.com.
  12. 12."Solidarity Association". Solidarity Association. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  13. 13."Il Papiro Hanna 1". www.vaticanlibrary.va. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  14. 14."Gospel Papyrus Donated to Vatican – ZENIT – English". www.zenit.org.
  15. 15."Vatican, other Catholic libraries turn to AI, robotics to digitize collections". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  16. 16.Hanna, Frank J. (1 September 2008). What Your Money Means: And How to Use It Well. The Crossroad Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0824525200.
  17. 17."Excellence in Philanthropy - The Philanthropy Roundtable". Archived from the original on 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2014-11-20.
  18. 18."A Graduate's Guide to Life - Beacon Publishing". Beacon Publishing. Archived from the original on 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  19. 19.Weigel, George. "The summer reading list". Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  20. 20.""The Call of the Philanthropist", Philanthropy. October 1, 2007". Archived from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
  21. 21."Excellence in Philanthropy - The Philanthropy Roundtable". Archived from the original on 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  22. 22.[3] Archived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
  23. 23."Frank Hanna III". hannacapitalllc.com.