May

frjenkins

A Word from Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

For our seniors and many of our graduate students, this month is an exceptionally exciting time at Notre Dame. Every day brings our soon-to-be-graduates a new detail about Commencement ceremonies and with it, the growing realization that graduation – and the next chapter of their young lives – will soon be upon them. It is my fervent hope that we as a University have fulfilled our promise to them: to provide an unsurpassed education, deeply rooted in our Catholic faith tradition. May their Notre Dame education be a constant source of wisdom, inspiration, and courage as they go forth and do good -- and change the world.

Notre Dame Will Award 11 Honorary Degrees at Commencement

Ten distinguished figures in business, education, engineering, law, mathematics, media, medicine and the Catholic Church will join principal speaker Haley Scott DeMaria as honorary degree recipients at the University of Notre Dame’s 167th Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 20.

The ceremony will be held in the morning at Notre Dame Stadium in order to accommodate as many guests as possible. Undergraduate diploma ceremonies for each college and school will be held the afternoon of May 20, and the Graduate School ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 19.

DeMaria, an Irish swimmer who made an inspirational comeback from injuries sustained in a team bus accident, will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. Other honorary degree recipients are: Jude Banatte (doctor of science) — Head of programming for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Haiti for the last 12 years, Banatte gained international recognition for his courage and organization during the response to Haiti’s 2010 earthquake; Luis Caffarelli (doctor of science) — A leader in the field of partial differential equations and their applications, Caffarelli’s mathematical work is important for problems in physics, chemistry, biology and the social sciences. Dick Ebersol (doctor of laws) — A longtime NBC producer, Ebersol’s television career ranges from “Saturday Night Live” to the Olympics, including eight of the top 10 most-watched television events in U.S. history. He is also the executive responsible for acquiring the rights to televise Notre Dame home football games on NBC; Archbishop Wilton Gregory (doctor of laws) — A native of Chicago, Gregory is the sixth and current leader of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Educated at Loyola University and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, he was ordained in 1973. As bishop of Belleville, Ill., he served as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, becoming in 2001 the first African-American ever to head an episcopal conference; Kevin Hasson (doctor of laws) — A leading legal advocate of religious freedom, Hasson is founder and president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He created this nonpartisan public-interest law firm in 1994 to represent people of all faiths and has since advocated for clients ranging from Anglicans to Zoroastrians; Muhtar Kent (doctor of laws) — A Turkish-American business executive, Kent is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Company; Joseph O’Neill (doctor of laws) — A Notre Dame alumnus, parent and member of the Board of Trustees, O’Neill is the managing partner of O’Neill Properties, a Texas oil and gas production company. He is the benefactor of O’Neill Family Hall, a men’s residence hall dedicated in 1996, and was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2001; Rev. David Tyson, C.S.C. (doctor of laws) — A member of the Board of Trustees and former president of the University of Portland, Tyson is currently the provincial superior of the United States Province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross; James Wagner (doctor of engineering) — An award-winning teacher and scientist and a prolific author, Wagner is the 19th president of Emory University; and Carolyn Woo (doctor of laws) — The Martin J. Gillen Dean of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business from 1997 to 2011, Woo is now president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services. Back to Top

Director of John Hopkins Center for Global Health to Deliver 2012 Graduate School Commencement Address

Thomas Quinn, M.D., the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health, has been named the University of Notre Dame Graduate School’s Distinguished Alumnus for 2012 and will deliver the Commencement address at the Graduate School’s Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 19, in the Compton Family Ice Arena on the south edge of the campus.

Quinn, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Notre Dame in 1969 and 1970, respectively, and his medical degree from Northwestern University School of Medicine, is renowned in the area of global health.

An elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and founding director of the John Hopkins’ Center for Global Health, he is the author of nearly 700 publications in his area of expertise: the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and clinical features of HIV/AIDS.

Quinn has been a key player in learning how HIV/AIDS spreads and who is at risk. He was one of the first researchers to investigate what was a new and mysterious disease in the 1980s. Using viral sequencing, he mapped the molecular evolution of the HIV epidemic, linking virologic changes to the spread of HIV and demonstrating the inherent pathogenesis of various HIV subtypes. He began his investigations in Haiti, then continued them in Africa, Asia and South America, continually producing much-needed information on how AIDS spreads among different peoples — working in 26 countries in all.

In addition to studying the spread of HIV/AIDS, Quinn has been committed to the implementation of clinical care programs for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in developing countries and was a co-founder of the Academic Alliance for AIDS Care and Prevention in Africa. He was one of the first researchers to demonstrate that non-invasive screening for STDs by use of molecular diagnostic assays could extend public health efforts to control STDs to non-clinic settings. This innovative approach, when coupled with his findings on the role of STDs as co-factors in enhancing HIV transmission, has led to one of the current basic tenets of the global AIDS control program.

Quinn and his team also demonstrated the key linkage in the viral dynamics of HIV with viral transmission from mothers to infants and between sexual partners. This landmark discovery led to the use of antiretroviral drugs to reduce viral levels in infected individuals which resulted in increased survival and decreased transmission. These studies eventually led to the recognition of treatment as one of the most important biomedical interventions to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide. Back to Top

Shakespeare? There’s an App for That

The Tempest was the first play printed in Shakespeare’s First Folio of 1623, thought to be inspired by European discoveries of the New World. It ranks among the most frequently performed and beloved of Shakespeare’s plays.

Now, there’s an app for that, available for download on iTunes, thanks in part to the University of Notre Dame’s commitment to encouraging innovation and supporting faculty research.

The Tempest for iPad has been created as a result of the Luminary project, a collaboration of renowned scholars from the United States and Europe, Actors from the London Stage, and master teachers and curators at The Folger Shakespeare Library – the world's premiere destination for the study, performance, preservation and teaching of Shakespeare's works.

Elliott Visconsi is the founder of the Luminary project and co-director of the Luminary edition of The Tempest. He is Associate Professor of English & Concurrent Associate Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame, where he divides his work between Shakespeare within the tradition of 16th and 17th century English & American literature and First Amendment law, free expression in the digital age, and intellectual property.

The Tempest for iPad features expert commentaries of the world’s leading Shakespeare scholars, artists and teachers, including Shakespeare scholars from (on this side of the pond) Notre Dame, Bryn Mawr, the University of Delaware, Harvard, George Washington university, Indiana University, University of Caliifornia - Santa Cruz, Yale, and Villanova, and (on the other side of the pond) the University of Sussex and the University of Birmingham.

Through the new app, you can enjoy a full-length audio performance of The Tempest performed by the noted company Actors From the London Stage. You can scroll text as you listen, and even listen to additional audio providing alternative performances of key passages. The app also brings the play --as well as Renaissance English culture and theater -- alive using Illustrations, podcasts and video from The Folger Shakespeare Library's unequalled collection.

The University enthusiastically supported the development of the The Tempest for iPad. According to Visconsi, about a year ago he approached Bob Bernhard, the University’s Vice President for Research, with the idea of developing a Shakespeare app for use in classroom teaching and learning. He said Bernhard’s office provided seed money for research and Jarek Nabrzyski, Director of Notre Dame’s Center for Research Computing (CRC), and a team of talented developers at the CRC provided invaluable assistance to develop the software.

The original intellectual property and first version of the software app were developed under Proof of Technology funding at Notre Dame. The technology was licensed to the Luminary Project as an independent company. If the product is successful, the university will recover its costs plus a royalty on profits. The Luminary Project will expand the platform to other work using its own developmental investments.

As it turns out, Shakespeare may simply be just the first act in the developing story of the Luminary project. Visconsi said they are now engaged in exploring other mission-centric possibilities for the technology. For example, he said, Luminary may take a look at creating an app focused on portions of the New Testament.

Learn more about The Tempest for iPad at luminarydigital media.com.. Back to Top

University of Oxford Chancellor Presents Nanovic Forum

Christopher Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC, visited Notre Dame on April 19 to present the Nanovic Forum in Geddes Hall. Lord Patten’s lecture was titled “Europe, America and the Changing World Order.”

A. James McAdams, director of Notre Dame’s Nanovic Institute for European Studies, described Lord Patten as an extraordinary figure, a man who has epitomized global leadership in diplomacy, higher education, international affairs and Catholicism.

Lord Patten is chairman of the BBC Trust, chancellor of the University of Oxford and co-chair of the UK-India Round Table. He was a member of parliament from 1979 to 1992, including chairmanship of the Conservative Party. After leaving Westminster, Lord Patten served as the last British Governor of Hong Kong, overseeing the territory’s return to China in 1997. He also chaired the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland and became European commissioner for external affairs.

In 2010, Lord Patten was appointed by the prime minister to oversee and manage the preparations for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United Kingdom, the country’s first papal visit in nearly 20 years.

The Nanovic Institute established the Nanovic Forum through the generosity of Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic in order to continue to deepen Notre Dame’s rich tradition of connections to Europe by bringing prominent figures to campus who are involved in healing rifts, unifying efforts and enlightening issues that transcend a focus on any one European country, people or constituency.

Past speakers have included Horst Koehler, former president of Germany, and Bernhard Schlink, a German novelist and constitutional court justice. Back to Top

Eck Institute for Global Health Joins AMPATH Consortium

The University of Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health is now a full member of the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) Consortium, led by Indiana University.

The Consortium works in collaboration with Moi University School of Medicine and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya to help build the care, education and research capacity of these institutions with the goal of providing access to health care for all persons throughout western Kenya. The Eck Institute will serve as the central coordinating body for Notre Dame activities within the AMPATH Consortium.

Notre Dame will specifically be involved in this partnership to expand the basic science research capacity at Moi University School of Medicine. Notre Dame has a unique niche in the Consortium in that it is the only member not focused on clinical care and brings a history of expertise in vector control and tropical disease research.

Notre Dame scientists are excited to participate in the partnership knowing they bring a history of experience and global leadership in the fight against tropical diseases including leishmania, malaria, dengue fever and lymphatic filariasis in addition to communicable diseases, tuberculosis and Ebola.

The Eck Institute will lead and coordinate research and training activities for Notre Dame that address constraints to health care in western Kenya, and simultaneously contribute to building scientific research capacity. Joint research activities, participation in seminars and academic meetings, student and faculty exchanges, and special short-term courses will be used to advance the mission of the Consortium. Members of the partnership are committed to observance of equity and mutual respect with a desire of common values resulting in maximum benefit for all involved.

The AMPATH Consortium is comprised of Brown University, Duke University, Indiana University, Lehigh Valley Health Systems, Providence Portland Medical Center, Purdue University, University of Utah, University of Toronto and now the University of Notre Dame.

At the turn of the century, in the face of the deadliest pandemic in human history, Indiana University and Moi University responded by creating one of Africa’s largest, most comprehensive and effective HIV/AIDS control systems. This system is now expanding its scope to include delivery of essential primary care services and control of communicable diseases and non-communicable, chronic illnesses. The AMPATH Consortium in collaboration with Moi University, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, and the Kenya Ministry of Health delivers health services in more than 60 hospitals and clinics in rural and urban western Kenya, serving a population of 3 million people. Back to Top

Christian and Muslim Scholars Meet at Notre Dame

Scholars and believers from the Catholic and Islamic faiths met at Notre Dame in April to discuss and deepen the encounter of the Catholic Church and Islam.

Among the issues discussed in “The Church and Islam: An International Colloquium,” sponsored by Notre Dame’s Institute for Church Life, were Muslim views of the Bible, the Church and the saints; Christian views of the Quran and Islamic teachings on Muhammad, and the roles of conflict, reconciliation and healing in Christian-Muslim relations. Gabriel Said Reynolds, Tisch Family Associate Professor of Theology at Notre Dame, and John Cavadini, McGrath-Cavadini Director of the Institute for Church Life, organized the meeting.

Colloquium speakers included Egyptian Jesuit scholar Samir Khalil Samir, professor of Islamic Studies at the Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut and at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Father Samir, who advises the Pope on dialogue with Islam, gave a lecture on “Pope Benedict XVI and Islam.” His remarks were followed by a response from Abdolrahim Gavahi, president of the World Religions Research Center in Tehran.

Other events during the colloquium included a panel discussion on “Christian Reflections on Holiness in Islam/Muslim Reflections on Holiness in Christianity,” in which each Muslim and Catholic scholar will offer an appreciative reflection on an exemplary person from the other tradition. Back to Top

Barry Cushman Will Join Notre Dame Law School Faculty

Barry Cushman, the James Monroe Distinguished Professor of Law and Professor of History at the University of Virginia, will join the faculty of the Notre Dame Law School this fall as the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law, Dean Nell Jessup Newton has announced.

Newton noted that the John P. Murphy Foundation Chair expresses the Law School’s admiration for Cushman’s achievements and excellence as a teacher, colleague, leader and scholar, and for his status as one of the leading legal historians of his generation.

Cushman received his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College, and his J.D., M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia, where he has served on the faculty for 15 years. His book, “Rethinking the New Deal Court: The Structure of a Constitutional Revolution” (Oxford University Press), was awarded the American Historical Association’s Littleton-Griswold Prize in American Law and Society in 1998. In 2003, he was honored with the University of Virginia’s All-University Teaching Award. Cushman has taught regularly both in the law school and in the history department at Virginia, and for several years directed both the law school’s Program on Legal and Constitutional History and the university’s Joint Degree Program in Legal History. Before entering teaching, Cushman practiced as an estate planning and probate attorney with the Los Angeles firm of Riordan & McKinzie. He is a former Samuel I. Golieb Fellow in Legal History at New York University School of Law, and is currently the Forbes Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program in the Department of Politics at Princeton University.

At Notre Dame Law School, Cushman will teach and write in a range of areas, including legal and constitutional history, constitutional law and trusts and estates. Back to Top

Former Mendoza College Dean Will Speak at Graduate Commencement

Carolyn Y. Woo, former Mendoza College dean and current president and chief executive officer of Catholic Relief Services, will be the featured speaker for the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business graduate commencement ceremony on May 19.

The graduate programs bestowing degrees include Notre Dame MBA, Executive MBA, Master of Nonprofit Administration and Master of Science in Accountancy.

Woo served as dean of the Mendoza College from 1997 to 2011. Under her leadership, the College earned top rankings for its academic programs, as well as recognition as the nation’s leading business school in ethics education and research.

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. As one of the world’s largest and most respected international relief and development agencies, CRS serves more than 130 million people in nearly 100 countries each year. Back to Top

Rev. Paul Kollman, C.S.C., Appointed to Direct Center for Social Concerns

Rev. Paul Kollman, C.S.C., associate professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed executive director of the University’s Center for Social Concerns (CSC), effective July 1.

A native of Cincinnati and a 1984 Notre Dame alumnus, Father Kollman earned a master’s degree in theology from the University in 1990, and a doctoral degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2001.

Father Kollman’s theological scholarship and teaching concern African Christianity, mission history and world Christianity, and he has pursued research in eastern Africa, Nigeria and South Africa, as well as in Europe and the United States. He has published articles and reviews in numerous journals of theology, religious studies and African studies, and a 2005 book, The Evangelization of Slaves and Catholic Origins in Eastern Africa. He is at work on a book on the Catholic missionary evangelization of eastern Africa and a study of the Catholic Charismatic Movement in Africa.

Recently serving as acting director of the CSC, Father Kollman has worked with the center since 2004, and in 2009, with CSC assistant director Rachel Tomas Morgan, he was co-author of an article in the New Theology Review on the challenges and opportunities of service-learning at Catholic universities.

In addition to his work with the CSC, Kollman serves as a fellow of Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and Nanovic Institute for European Studies.

As CSC executive director, Father Kollman succeeds Father Lies, who was recently appointed Notre Dame’s vice president for mission engagement and church affairs. Under Father Lies’ leadership, the CSC was designated as a University Institute. Back to Top

Theologian Jean Porter Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Jean Porter, the Rev. John A. O’Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS).

Porter is among the 220 newly elected members of AAAS, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies. AAAS also is a center for independent policy research whose members contribute to its publications and studies of science and technology policy, energy and global security, social policy and American institutions, the humanities and culture, and education.

Porter taught at Vanderbilt Divinity School for six years before joining the Notre Dame faculty in 1990. Her teaching and scholarship concern Christian ethics and the history and interpretation of the natural law tradition in Catholic ethical reflection, particularly the moral theology of St. Thomas Aquinas.

In addition to articles and essays in scholarly and popular journals, Porter is the author of Ministers of the Law: A Natural Law Theory of Legal Authority, a book honored last year by a Catholic Press Association award. Her other books include Nature as Reason: A Thomistic Theory of the Natural Law and Natural and Divine Law: Reclaiming the Tradition for Christian Ethics.

Founded in 1780, the AAAS has elected intellectual leaders from generations of Americans including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century, Daniel Webster and Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 19th, and Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill in the 20th. The current membership includes more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners. Back to Top

Legal Scholar Publishes Research on Shariah in America

In 2003, with heated debates about Shariah law raging around the U.S. and Canada, legal scholar Julie Macfarlane set out to find out what the controversy was all about. Several years and many hundreds of interviews later, her quest to document and analyze the North American notion of Shariah — Islamic principles that are part of a voluntary system of personal obligation — has resulted in a new book and two new reports for policymakers, religious leaders and the public.

Macfarlane is a law professor at the University of Windsor (Canada) and adjunct professor of the practice at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. Her report, “Shari’a Law: Coming to a Courthouse Near You?” is the first empirical study to ask North American Muslims what Shariah means in their everyday lives. The study shows that, for North American Muslims, Shariah is a private system of morality and identity, focused primarily on family issues such as marriage and divorce, which most understand as fully compatible with the American legal system.

In an analysis of American jurisprudence, Macfarlane found no evidence of a takeover of courts by Islamic law. In fact, not one of her interviewees — including imams, legal scholars, Muslim lawyers and others working in the legal system — suggested that the courts should directly apply Islamic law to Muslims or non-Muslims.

Another report by Macfarlane, “Understanding Trends in American Muslim Divorce and Marriage: A Discussion Guide for Families and Communities,” is the first empirical study of significant size to examine how North American Muslims approach marriage and divorce. Her book on the same topic, Islamic Divorce in North America: A Shari’a Path in a Secular Society, has just been published by Oxford University Press.

Macfarlane said her goal in writing was to “take the lid off of a taboo topic in a kind and sensitive way, and to encourage the conversation to keep going within the Muslim community — as well as inform discussion inside the non-Muslim community.”

Macfarlane has researched and written extensively on dispute resolution and the role of lawyers. An active mediator and consultant, she has conducted skills-based training for lawyers all over the world. She also is the author of “The New Lawyer: How Settlement Is Transforming the Practice of Law.” At the Kroc Institute, she co-teaches a graduate-level course on conflict resolution, along with her husband, Bernie Mayer, also an adjunct professor of the practice. Back to Top

Carole Sandner Hall Receives LEED Gold Certification

The University of Notre Dame’s Carole Sandner Hall was recently certified LEED Gold by the United States Green Building Council.

The building, opened in the summer of 2011 as the new home for the Alliance for Catholic Education, is the sixth on campus to receive LEED certification. Carole Sandner Hall features numerous sustainable design and construction practices.

Other LEED-certified buildings at Notre Dame include the Joyce Center’s Purcell Pavilion, Innovation Park, Stinson-Remick Hall, Geddes Hall and Ryan Hall. Back to Top