Alumnus John W. Glynn and his wife, Barbara, have made a $10 million gift to the University of Notre Dame to expand and fortify the joint honors program in the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Science.
The benefaction will establish the Glynn Family Honors Program, replacing the current Arts & Letters and Science Honors Program, which was established in 1983. Beginning with the fall 2007 semester, students accepted into the honors program will be known as Glynn Scholars.
The Glynn gift will enable the program to admit 100 students per year – 400 overall – an increase from its current classes of 60-80 students annually. The benefaction also will allow every student in the program to become eligible for summer research fellowships to pursue original research projects at Notre Dame or other universities around the world.
“This extraordinarily generous gift from John and his family will allow Notre Dame to continue attracting and educating the nation’s most exceptional students,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University. “The Glynn Family Honors Program will offer students an education of both the mind and the heart, preparing young scholars whose impact on the world will be felt for generations.”
The Glynn Family Honors Program will combine the benefits of a leading research university and an elite liberal arts college by offering to a group of theUniversity’s most talented undergraduates a wide range of rich academic opportunities, as well as individualized mentoring and a student-centered experience that focuses on small discussion classes and independent research projects.
“The Glynn Family Gift is generous, important and creative, and reflects an uncommon love of Notre Dame and insightful understanding of education,” said Thomas G. Burish, provost. “It will allow Notre Dame to compete more successfully against the leading colleges and universities in America for the most talented students, and it will enrich the lives of these students by making possible a wide range of experiences at Notre Dame or virtually anywhere else in the world. This gift will have an immediate and transformative impact on Notre Dame.”
A 1962 graduate of Notre Dame, John Glynn is founder and president of Glynn Capital Management in Menlo Park, Calif. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Notre Dame, a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, and an MBA from Stanford University. Glynn has served on Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters Advisory Council since 1998 and on the advisory board of the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies since 2000.
A venture capital investor in private companies since 1970, Glynn has invested in several companies, including Electronic Arts, Intuit, COR Therapeutics, Intel, Molecular Devices, Sun Microsystems, Linear Technology, and the Neurex Corporation.For the last 23 years, Glynn has served as an advisory partner to New Enterprise Associates, a major venture capital firm managing more than $5 billion. Since 1990, he has taught a venture capital course to MBA students at the University of Virginia, Stanford and Cambridge University.
Glynn currently serves on the advisory board of the Judge Business School of Cambridge University, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Virginia School of Law.
Barbara Glynn earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from TrinityCollege in Washington and the University of Virginia, respectively. She is a co-founder of the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif., one of the major technology museums in the world.She also serves on the boards of several schools and community agencies, including the Family Service Organization.
The Glynns are the parents of four children: Alexandra, David, Elizabeth, Jacqueline. David graduated from Notre Dame in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in English, and Elizabeth graduated in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in history.
Originally published by at newsinfo.nd.edu on July 10, 2006.