James Griffin Receives SMU 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award

DALLAS, TX (11/11/2011)(readMedia)-- Business leader James (Ike) Griffin III received Southern Methodist University's Distinguished Alumni Award on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. The award is the highest honor the University bestows upon its graduates.

Griffin has devoted two decades to faith- and character-based rehabilitation efforts for prison inmates. He is president of Horizon Communities in Prison, a multi-faith rehabilitation and education program.

Griffin served as an SMU cheerleader while working on his Bachelor of Arts degree, which he received from the Cox School of Business in 1957. After spending three years in the United States Air Force, he operated an international produce company in the Rio Grande Valley that was influential in developing new trade practices between the U.S. and Mexico. He also engaged in real estate and community development in the Dallas area.

Griffin moved to Florida in 1990 to become executive director of Kairos Prison Ministry, an international program that addresses spiritual needs of prisoners and their families, primarily through retreats led by volunteer teams. He led expansion of Kairos from 50 to more than 240 prisons in 31 states and four foreign countries, while also finding time to earn a doctor of ministry degree. Since stepping down as executive director of Kairos in 2001, Griffin has focused on Horizon Communities in Prison, an organization he developed to provide intensive rehabilitative programming for one-year periods in specialized dorm settings. In recognition of his prison work, Griffin received the Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award from SMU's Perkins School of Theology and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services named Horizon Communities "A Model for the Future."

For more information, visit smu.edu/alumni/daa.

Editor's Note: Photos are available upon request.

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