The founder of Domino’s Pizza, who also started Ave Maria School of Law, announced today that he is endorsing Mitt Romney’s bid for president.

Thomas S. Monaghan, who has recently faced controversy at the Catholic law school he began in 1999, called Mr. Romney a “proven leader” and a “man of principle.”

Mr. Monaghan cited the former governor’s successes in business, politics, and organizing the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Most importantly, Mr. Monaghan added, “as someone who values the importance of faith in one’s life, I recognize in Mitt his deep religious convictions which will serve him well in facing the critical moral issues facing our society.”

He said he believed the former governor would “stand firm on the pro-life issues and for the traditional family values that our country was founded on.”

At Ave Maria, Mr. Monaghan in the past year has faced criticism from professors, students, and alumni who oppose a decision to move the school from Ann Arbor, Mich., to a rural community in southwest Florida.

More than half of the professors were fighting the move, scheduled for the summer of 2009, to Ave Maria, Fla., the town Mr. Monaghan is creating.

Three faculty members at the law school also have sued Mr. Monaghan and Bernard Dobranski, the school’s president and dean, saying they were suspended in retaliation for reporting conduct by top law-school officials that they suspected was illegal.