Pete Buttigieg, former South Bend mayor, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and a faculty fellow in the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Advanced Study (NDIAS), has been nominated to serve as Secretary of Transportation by President-elect Joe Biden.
Edward Manier, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, died on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26) at his home in South Bend. He was 89.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, a 1998 University of Notre Dame alumna and an investigative reporter for The New York Times Magazine, has won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for criticism, journalism’s highest honor. Hannah-Jones was recognized for her introductory essay to the newspaper’s landmark The 1619 Project, an ongoing and interactive series she created that focuses on the 400th anniversary of when enslaved Africans were first brought to what would become the United States.
Gilburt Loescher, a longtime Notre Dame political scientist and an international expert on refugee and humanitarian issues, died April 28 of heart failure. He was 75. In 2003, he was in Baghdad, Iraq, when a suicide bomber attacked United Nations offices at the Canal Hotel. Loescher was among the more than 150 people injured in the attack, his wounds life-threatening, with doctors giving him only a 25 percent chance of survival. It took rescuers more than four hours to extract him from the rubble, amputating his legs in the process.
In a letter today to the Class of 2020, University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., announced that the University Commencement Ceremony on May 17 will be held online rather than in Notre Dame Stadium, and that an on-campus celebration has been scheduled for the spring of 2021. Father Jenkins made the decision after discussions with experts on infectious diseases, University deans, and student government and class officers as he continued to monitor the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Notre Dame faculty member and alumnus Carlos Lozada, the nonfiction book critic for the Washington Post, is the recipient of a 2019 Pulitzer Prize for criticism, journalism’s highest honor. In announcing the award April 15, the Pulitzer jurors cited Lozada “for trenchant and searching reviews and essays that joined warm emotion and careful analysis in examining a broad range of books addressing government and the American experience.”
Titled “American Priest: The Ambitious Life and Conflicted Legacy of Notre Dame’s Father Ted Hesburgh,” the book examines Father Hesburgh’s life and his many varied engagements — from the University he led to his associations with the Vatican and White House — and evaluates the extent and importance of his work.
Rev. Daniel G. Groody, C.S.C., associate professor of theology and global affairs at the University of Notre Dame and an award-winning author and filmmaker on international migration and refugee issues, was elected a Fellow and Trustee of the University at the Board of Trustees winter meeting Friday (Feb. 1) on campus.
Joseph A. Buttigieg, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of English and retired director of the Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program at the University of Notre Dame, died Sunday (Jan. 27). He was 71.
The transformative gift will help the center expand its work forming and mentoring Notre Dame students, engaging in interdisciplinary programming and research, and promoting a culture of life worldwide through teaching, exchange, and service.
Donald C. Sniegowski, professor emeritus of English at the University of Notre Dame, died Tuesday (Sept. 18) at the age of 83.
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.