Longtime philanthropists in the greater South Bend community — Ernestine Raclin and her daughter and son-in-law Carmen and Chris Murphy — have made a lead gift to the University of Notre Dame for the construction of a new community asset, the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at Notre Dame.
University of Notre Dame alumnus John A. “Jack” Kelly and his wife, Gail E. Weiss, have made a $1 million gift to his alma mater to support initiatives within the University’s Notre Dame International Security Center (NDISC) and the Office of the President. Founded in 2008 and recently expanded with the addition of three new faculty members, the International Security Center is under the direction of Michael Desch, professor of political science. NDISC examines pressing international security issues facing the nation and world and conducts research that contributes to dialogue on global policy. The center supports faculty and student research projects, an endowed speaker series, an undergraduate fellows program and a seminar series featuring scholars and experts on national security.
A one-hour documentary detailing the origins, construction, and academic, student life, performance, and athletic components of the Campus Crossroads Project at the University of Notre Dame will air at 9 p.m. Friday, September 8, on WNIT (Channel 34) in the South Bend area.
The largest construction project in the 175-year history of the University of Notre Dame – an 800,000-square-foot integration of world-class space for teaching, research, performances, faith, multimedia, student life and athletics – is nearing completion, with several components now open or opening over the next two weeks and most of the other facilities ready for occupancy in January. The buildings include the new homes of the Deparment of Anthropology, Department of Psychology, Department of Music, and Sacred Music at Notre Dame.
In a restructured position, Eileen Hunt Botting will oversee the Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program, Stamps Scholars Program, and other merit-based scholarship programs at the University. She succeeds Joseph Buttigieg, who is retiring at the end of the academic year.
Timothy S. Fuerst, William and Dorothy O’Neill Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame, died Tuesday (Feb. 21) after a 10-month battle with stomach cancer. He was 54. Fuerst conducted research on monetary theory and policy, with a special focus on business cycles. “Tim was a devoted and loving husband and father, a productive and highly respected economist, a gifted teacher and, of course, a wonderful friend to us all,” said William Evans, chair of the Department of Economics. “After Tim’s diagnosis, he adopted the motto of the Congregation of Holy Cross — Ave Crux, Spes Unica – ‘Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope.’ His courageous, dignified and faith-filled battle against the disease was an inspiration to us all.”
The gift was made to the University by Helen Schwab and her husband, Charles, in honor of her brother Joe O’Neill. O’Neill Hall joins Corbett Family Hall and the Duncan Student Center as the three structures surrounding Notre Dame Stadium, and will be a six-story, 100,000-square-foot building for the Department of Music, the Sacred Music at Notre Dame program, and hospitality space, with completion scheduled for August.
University of Notre Dame alumnus Robert P. McGrath and his wife, Joan, have made a $15 million gift to his alma mater to endow the University’s Institute for Church Life.
A conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 (Monday) at the University of Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., announced Tuesday (Aug. 30).
An associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1993, Ginsburg will engage in a dialogue on a wide range of issues with U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Ann Claire Williams, a Notre Dame alumna and Trustee.
Singer, songwriter and producer Todd Rundgren will serve as an artist-in-residence for the Department of Film, Television and Theatre (FTT) at the University of Notre Dame from Sept. 22 to Oct. 1. During his residency, Rundgren will teach several classes, work with students and teachers in the South Bend/Mishawaka community, perform with student bands in a concert Oct. 1 at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, organize an on-campus collection of used musical instruments for national redistribution to music students in need and, in conjunction with his Spirit of Harmony Foundation, present an award to Notre Dame alumnus Bill Hurd.
Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, will be the guest on the 2015-16 season premiere of The Open Mind, the longest-running public affairs program in public television history. A member of the Commission on Presidential Debates, Father Jenkins will speak with host Alexander Heffner about moral education and the cure for incivility in an age of entrenched partisanship.
Two gifts totaling $35 million from Notre Dame alumnus Richard Corbett will underwrite the construction of a 280,000-square-foot building on the east side of Notre Dame Stadium and endow the head football coaching position at the University. A $25 million gift is in support of Corbett Family Hall, which will house the Departments of Anthropology and Psychology and a digital media center.
Rev. Austin Collins, C.S.C., will join the University of Notre Dame’s Board of Fellows as well as its Board of Trustees on July 1 when he becomes religious superior of Holy Cross Priests and Brothers at Notre Dame. He will be joined on the Board of Trustees by newly elected member Clare Stack Richer, who is a member of the College of Arts and Letters Advisory Council.
Maura A. Ryan, associate dean for the humanities and faculty affairs in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed vice president and associate provost for faculty affairs at the University. The appointment, effective Aug. 1, was made by Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., on the recommendation of Thomas G. Burish, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost.
Rev. Richard P. McBrien, Crowley-O’Brien Professor Emeritus of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, died Sunday (Jan. 25) after a long illness. He was 78. “Father McBrien was a leading theologian and commentator on the Catholic Church,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president. “While often controversial, his work came from a deep love of and hope for the Church. We pray for eternal rest for his soul.”
The University of Notre Dame announced on Wednesday, October 1, the creation of the first new college or school at the University in nearly a century—the Donald R. Keough School of Global Affairs. R. Scott Appleby, a scholar of global religion and a member of Notre Dame’s faculty since 1994, will serve as the Marilyn Keough Dean of the school.
Construction on Campus Crossroads, a $400 million project that will use the University of Notre Dame’s iconic football stadium as a hub for new facilities supporting academic and student life initiatives, will begin in November, after the final home game of the season. “We announced this project in January with the hope—though not necessarily the expectation—that we could begin in November,” Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., said. “Thanks to the tireless work of many, plans have been finalized and funds have been raised so that we can, indeed, commence construction on facilities that will unite and inspire every member of our campus community for decades to come.”
The Wilson Sheehan Foundation has made a $15 million gift to the University of Notre Dame to endow the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), a recent University initiative that seeks to reduce poverty in the United States.
“We are immensely grateful to the Wilson Sheehan Foundation for a gift that supports the missions of both the foundation and Notre Dame: to be a force for good in the world,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the University’s president. “By endowing the work of LEO researchers, the foundation is supporting and challenging them to find enduring solutions to poverty in America.”
The University of Notre Dame announced Wednesday, January 29, the largest building project in its 172-year history, integrating the academy, student life, and athletics with the construction of more than 750,000 square feet in three new buildings attached to the west, east and south sides of the University’s iconic football stadium, at a projected cost of $400 million. The Campus Crossroads Project will add significant academic space at the same time the University is hiring 80 new faculty to build on Notre Dame’s existing strengths.
Donald and Marilyn Keough have made a $30 million gift to the University of Notre Dame to underwrite the construction of a new building for its international institutes. To be named in honor of Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the structure will be conjoined to Nanovic Hall, a recently announced facility to be built on Notre Dame Avenue south of the Hesburgh Center for International Studies.
Robert S. and Elizabeth Nanovic of North Yarmouth, Maine, have made a leadership gift to the University of Notre Dame for the construction of a new social sciences building in the College of Arts and Letters. Nanovic Hall will be built on Notre Dame Avenue, south of the Hesburgh Center for International Studies, and will house the Departments of Economics, Political Science, and Sociology. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2015 and be completed by August 2017, prior to the start of the academic year.
Elliott Visconsi, associate professor of English and concurrent associate professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed the University’s inaugural chief academic digital officer by Provost Thomas G. Burish.
Matthew V. Storin, former editor of The Boston Globe and former associate vice president for news and information at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed chief communications executive for the University, according to Louis M. Nanni, vice president for University Relations. A graduate of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters, Storin will begin serving in the newly created position July 8.
He will oversee all central communications, including public relations, marketing, public information, issues management, executive communications, Notre Dame Magazine, internal communications, multimedia services, Web and print design and development, copywriting, social media, and strategic communications planning.
Haley Scott DeMaria, the University of Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters alumna who made an inspiring recovery from critical injuries suffered in a tragic 1992 bus accident involving the Fighting Irish swimming team, will be the principal speaker and the recipient of an honorary degree at Notre Dame’s 167th Commencement Ceremony on May 20.
O. Carter Snead, professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed the W.P. and H.B. White Director of the University’s Center for Ethics and Culture (CEC) by John McGreevy, I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters. A member of the Notre Dame Law School faculty since 2005, Snead will succeed W. David Solomon, associate professor of philosophy, effective July 1.
Xavier Murphy, a 2011 University of Notre Dame graduate who was on campus this semester completing one course and working as an intern with the football program, died October 11 of complications from leukemia. Murphy resided in Zahm Hall at Notre Dame and earned his bachelor’s degree in political science.
Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed to a national commission that will examine how to bolster teaching and research in the humanities and social sciences. Created by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences includes prominent Americans from those two fields, as well as the physical and life sciences, business, law, philanthropy, the arts, and the media.
Twelve University of Notre Dame students participating in a study abroad program in Cairo were among the many Americans who arrived safely in Istanbul Monday night (January 31) following their evacuation from Egypt on charter flights arranged by the U.S. State Department.
Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., associate professor of theology and former vice president for student affairs at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed executive vice president and associate professor of theology at the University of Portland, effective July 1.
The RM Liu Foundation has made a gift to the University of Notre Dame to endow a new Institute for Asia and Asian Studies. Based in Gardena, Calif., the foundation supports the philanthropic activities of Robert and Mimi Liu and their children, Emily and Justin, both of whom are Notre Dame graduates. “We are expanding the international dimensions of Notre Dame in many ways, and Asia is an especially important part of our plan,” says Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the University’s president. “This significant gift will allow us to enhance our current initiatives and to grow in new and exciting directions. We are deeply grateful to Bob, Mimi, Emily and Justin for their visionary leadership and extraordinarily generous support.”