August 2011

Education Official Speaks on Challenges for Teachers at ACE Commencement

The University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) conducted its 16th Commencement exercises on July 9, with a U.S. Department of Education official addressing the 106 graduates who received master’s degrees.

Juan Sepulveda, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, delivered the keynote address, thanking the ACE graduates for serving as educators in under-resourced Catholic schools at a very critical time for the nation, when all children must be globally competitive.

Sepulveda urged the educators to be innovative and to ask themselves, “How can I create schools that maybe haven’t even existed before, because that’s what it’s going to take for our kids to be successful.”

Eighty-one members of ACE’s Service through Teaching class, which prepares young adults as teachers in Catholic schools around the country, earned the master of education degree.   The 25-member class from ACE’s Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, which focuses on the formation of Catholic school principals, earned the master of arts in educational administration degree.

John and Patricia O’Brien received the 2011 Notre Dame Award for Catholic Education.

 

Notre Dame Joins HathiTrust in Effort to Compile Massive Digital Library

The University of Notre Dame has become the newest member of HathiTrust, a partnership of major academic and research libraries collaborating in compiling a massive digital library. Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Libraries is a sustaining member and will work toward digitizing its unique collections, which include has renowned special collections in areas such as Dante studies, Latin American, Spanish and Spanish Colonial culture, Irish Studies, sports, and Catholic Americana which continue to attract scholars from around the world.

HathiTrust was launched in 2008 by the then 12-university consortium, known as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), and the University of California system. It has grown to more than 50 partners including Columbia, Princeton, Yale, Duke, and Johns Hopkins.

In the past two years, those partners have contributed more than 8 million volumes to the digital library, digitized from their library collections. More than 2 million of the contributed volumes are in the public domain and freely available on the Web.

HathiTrust serves first as a trusted repository, guaranteeing the long-term preservation of the materials while providing expert curation and consistent access to research libraries. It also acts as a bridge between partners and the public, offering access to the digital collections which includes viewing, downloading and searching.

HathiTrust was named after hathi, the Hindu word for elephant, which is symbolic of the qualities of memory, wisdom and strength evoked by elephants.

The initiative aims to preserve and provide access to published materials through a digital form to the general public. Back to Top

 

ND Political Scientist Wins Award for His First Book, God and the Founders

Vincent Phillip Muñoz, the Tocqueville Associate Professor of Religion and Public Life at the University of Notre Dame, has been named a winner of the 2011 American Political Science Association’s Hubert Morken Award for his book, God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson, published by Cambridge University Press.

Muñoz will receive this biennial prize for the best book in religion and politics in early September.  He shares the award with Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, author of The Politics of Secularism in International Relations.

A specialist in constitutional law, American politics and political philosophy, Muñoz is a faculty member of the Department of Political Science in the College of Arts and Letters and of the Notre Dame Law School. God and the Founders is his first book.

In God and the Founders, he analyzes the public documents, private writings and political actions of James Madison, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to explain their competing philosophies of religious freedom and to show how each might have decided key Supreme Court cases.

Muñoz says the right to religious freedom is one of our most precious natural rights, but hard questions exist related to its philosophical foundations, its limits, and how it can best be protected under the rule of law.   Through the book, he hopes to help scholars, legal practitioners and citizens better understand the meaning of the right to religious freedom so we can better protect it.

Muñoz is currently working on a sequel that will focus on how the American Constitution was designed to protect religious freedom.

This fall at Notre Dame, Muñoz will teach American Constitutional Law as well as Constitutionalism, Law and Politics—the gateway class to the University’s new undergraduate minor in constitutional studies.  Back to Top

 

Notre Dame Research Reveals Brain Network Connections

Research conducted by Maria Ercsey-Ravasz and Zoltan Toroczkai of the University of Notre Dame’s Interdisciplinary Center for Network Science and Applications (iCeNSA), along with the Department of Physics and a group of neuroanatomists in France, has revealed previously unknown information about the primate brain.

The researchers published an article in the journal Cerebral Cortex showing that the brain is characterized by a highly consistent, weighted network among the functional areas of the cortex, which are responsible for such functions as vision, hearing, touch, movement control and complex associations. The study revealed that such cortical networks and their properties are reproducible from individual to individual.

Ercsey-Ravasz, a postdoctoral associate, and Toroczkai, professor of physics, analyzed 70 man-years’ worth of data on macaque brains collected by a large group led by Henry Kennedy in Lyon, France. The Kennedy team injected ink tracers into a portion of the brain and scanned thin brain slices to track the movement of the chemical through the nerve cells’ branches, called axons, to the soma of the cells. Kennedy enlisted iCeNSA for its expertise at analyzing networks, which has also been applied to fields as diverse as the spread of disease and the social networks. Their analysis identified the consistency of connectivity among the areas of the brain.

Ercsey-Ravasz, in a study of the data that will be included in a later paper, also has demonstrated that the number of connections is greatest between areas that are closest, and the number declines in a consistent pattern as distance increases. The regularity of the patterns from animal to animal suggests that the connections are necessary, and the fewer long-distance connections likely are control switches that coordinate or modulate information exchange amongst the brain areas.

The study is part of a broader investigation of brain function and intelligence that has accelerated in recent years as researchers abandoned the once-promising analogy between computer circuitry and human intelligence, a project that stalled in the 1970s.

The adult primate brain is an amazingly complex system containing 100 billion neurons, with branches that connect at more than 100 trillion points.  Back to Top

 

Notre Dame Professor Wins International Association for Media and History Prize

The University of Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television, and Theatre professor Christine Becker has received the 2011 Michael Nelson Prize for Work in Media and History from the International Association for Media and History (IAMHIST).  Becker was honored for her book, It’s the Pictures that Got Small: Hollywood Film Stars on 1950’s Television, at the IAMHIST Conference Copenhagen, Denmark, in July.

According to IAMHIST, the biennial prize is awarded to the book, radio or television program or series, film, DVD, CD-ROM, or URL making the best contribution on the subject of media and history, which has been published or shown in the preceding two years.

Published by Wesleyan University Press, the book addresses how the interplay between television and film in the 1950s transformed television production and programming, affected the careers of countless film actors, and challenged the traditional mechanisms of the Hollywood star system. The book explores why certain film stars crossed over to television while others did not, why some succeeded in the new medium and others failed, and how the presence of film stars shaped the nature of certain television genres.  Back to Top

 

Four Notre Dame Faculty Named American Chemical Society Fellows

Four members of the Notre Dame faculty have been named Fellows of the American Chemical Society. Seth Brown, Greg Hartland, Prashant Kamat and Anthony Trozzolo are the first Fellows from Notre Dame since the ACS board of directors started the program in 2008 to recognize members for outstanding achievements to science, the profession and the society.

Brown, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, came to Notre Dame in 1996. He won the 2008 Shilts/Leonard Teaching Award, the College of Science’s top teaching honor. In 2009, he received the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

Hartland, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, came to Notre Dame in 1994. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Senior Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry, the premier journal for publishing research in physical chemistry that accounts for more than 20 percent of all articles published in American Chemical Society journals.

Kamat, the Rev. John A. Zahm Professor of Science, is a professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He is also a senior scientist at the Radiation Laboratory and a concurrent professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He came to Notre Dame in 1983. He was elected a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society in 2008 and American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010. Kamat has been serving as a Deputy Editor of the American Chemical Society journal, Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.

Trozzolo, the Charles L. Huisking Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, came to Notre Dame in 1975. He is a pioneer in photochemistry who organized and chaired the first Gordon Research Conference on Organic Photochemistry. He was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Chemists in 1963.  Back to Top

 

Spirit Campaign Will Have Impact for Decades to Come

The success of the recently-concluded Spirit of Notre Dame campaign means that the University of Notre Dame has become the first university without the powerful gift-giving attraction of a medical school to surpass $2 billion in a traditional seven-year capital campaign.

The campaign raised $2.014 billion during the seven-year span that ended June 30 – 134 percent of the $1.5 billion goal. The fund-raising effort also was the largest in the history of Catholic higher education, nearly doubling the $1.061 billion record set by the University’s “Generations” campaign that ended in December 2000.

 According to Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president, the positive effects of the contributions to the campaign are already are being felt on campus and around the world -- and will be for decades to come – through significant increases in financial aid, expanded undergraduate educational opportunities, faculty appointments, research and scholarship, laboratories and other facilities, and service to the Catholic Church.

Highlights of the “Spirit” campaign include the following:

• Undergraduate student financial aid was the major beneficiary of the campaign, with $251 million raised for scholarships, the most in Notre Dame’s history.
• Another $81.6 million was raised for law, master in business and Graduate School fellowships, more than twice that of the University’s previous campaign.
• More than $620 million was designated for the University’s five colleges and schools, and another $170.1 million was earmarked for academic centers and institutes.
•  $43.4 million was committed toward the Hesburgh Libraries.
•  The University’s physical plant has been transformed through the campaign with 14 new facilities added, including two residence halls, seven academic buildings, a new facility for Notre Dame Security Police and the post office, and four athletics venues.  In addition, the Joyce Center (Purcell Pavilion) and Law School building (Biolchini Hall) received major renovations.
• Some $100 million was raised in support of the Catholic character of Notre Dame in the form of gifts for the Institute for Church Life, the Center for Social Concerns, the Institute for Educational Initiatives, including the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program, and the Keough-Hesburgh Professorships for world-class faculty who demonstrate a commitment to Notre Dame’s Catholic mission.
•  Of the $2.014 billion that was raised, nearly $1 billion was for new endowment and some $453.6 million was committed or given for capital projects such as new buildings or renovations. The remaining $571 million was given to current operations (through the Notre Dame Annual Fund and expendable gifts) over the campaign’s seven-year life.
•  Thirty-seven donors made gifts of $10 million or more, with two in excess of $50 million.

There were more than 120,000 donors to the Spirit of Notre Dame campaign, including individuals, foundations, corporations and other organizations.

The undergraduate alumni participation rate for the campaign was 71.2 percent.  Back to Top

 

Notre Dame Vision Program Offers Teens a Summer Camp of Faith

The University of Notre Dame’s campus is far from deserted during the summer months. In addition to the students enrolled in the seven-week summer session, the busloads of tourists, the churchgoers, pilgrims, and picnickers, legions of high school students from all over the country attend dozens of variously themed summer camps.

Of these, the most conspicuous are the athletic camps, whose football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and baseball players swarm Notre Dame’s playing fields and gymnasiums hoping to increase their strength and sharpen their prowess. But there also are other camps, devoted to other worthy adolescent ambitions and interests.

One such is Notre Dame Vision, a program of the University’s Institute for Church Life, which this summer celebrates two milestones, its 10th anniversary and the enrollment of its 10,000th participant.

The official purpose of Notre Dame Vision is simply to help young people recognize God’s call in their lives and respond to that call with courage and faith.  This summer, 1,352 teenagers, enrolled in four five-day-long conferences, are gathering on Notre Dame’s campus. Assisting them are 65 undergraduate students, most of them from Notre Dame along with others from Saint Mary’s College and Holy Cross College. The Notre Dame Vision conferences include lectures, small group reflections, large and small liturgies, and much music.

The program’s theology and liturgy are Catholic, and its participants are predominantly but not exclusively so.  Tuition is kept low ($350-$450) and scholarships for the program are made possible with funds from Our Sunday Visitor, the Congregation of Holy Cross, and the Knights of Columbus.

One aim of the program is to help students to give a clearer voice to their faith.  Recent research undertaken by Christian Smith, Notre Dame’s William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology, found that many Catholic teens were remarkably inarticulate about their faith. Leonard J. DeLorenzo, director of the Notre Dame Vision program, said the program is one way the University serves the Church by doing something exciting and significant to change the situation.  Back to Top

 

STEP Program Serves Church by Offering Theology Online

Notre Dame’s Satellite Theological Education Program (STEP) makes use of the Internet, interactive videoconferences and numerous distance learning technologies to offer courses in theology and spiritual life to interested Catholic lay people, pastoral ministers and other believers nationwide and beyond.

STEP is among the most successful programs of the University’s Institute for Church Life, whose expressed mission is to deploy Notre Dame’s ample academic resources as “a witness-bearing leadership role in the life of the Church at large.”  With more than 1,500 enrollments each year, the STEP program engages students from every Catholic diocese in the United States.

STEP partners with Catholic dioceses to provide high-quality courses, both not for credit and, through the theology department, for credit. The intended audience includes the many people who work in pastoral and teaching ministries in the Church, for whom it is not easy to travel to campus, and for whom there are not many local options.

STEP offers 50 specifically-designed online courses, most of them taught by Notre Dame faculty members. The course offerings are as rich and varied as a sampling of their titles suggests: “In God’s Image: The Mystery of Creation”; “Theology of the Body”; “Mary in the Catholic Tradition”; “The Christian Conscience and Ethical Dilemmas”; “Catholic Prayer: The Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Doxology ”; “Emerging Models of Catechesis”; “History of Christianity”; “Vatican II: The Experience and the Event”; “Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Christian Life”; “Breaking Open the Word: A Model for Catechesis and Homily Preparation”; “The Confessions of St. Augustine”; and “Biblical Literary Forms.”  Back to Top

 

Executive Education Presents Annual Awards

An orthopedic manufacturer, an improv group, and a CEO from an investment bank in Puerto Rico were among a diverse group of six award recipients during the annual Notre Dame Executive Education awards banquet held on June 14 at Notre Dame.

The award for Outstanding Leadership in Executive Education – Executive Programs, which recognizes exemplary corporate leadership as well as a commitment to executive education and the development of global leadership was awarded to Biomet, a manufacturer and marketer of orthopedic and other products. In 2007, Biomet and Executive Education began a partnership to design, develop and deliver a customized global leadership program. To date, more than 100 Biomet leaders from around the world have taken the program.

Spark Creative, a Chicago-based corporate entertainment group that offers a variety of business training programs designed to facilitate creative thinking and group interaction, was awarded the Partner in Innovation Award. The Spark Creative team has collaborated with Executive Education for a decade to foster executive learning through creative sessions in the Executive Integral Leadership program. The award recognizes a strategic business partner to Executive Education who demonstrates innovation and creativity.

The Distinguished Alumni Award, which recognizes an alumna or alumnus for demonstrating creativity in addressing business-related issues in addition to generosity with ideas, time and other resources, was given to Jose Fernandez, president and chief executive officer of Oriental Financial Group Inc. Fernandez, a 1985 Notre Dame graduate, led the acquisition of failed competitor Eurobank from FDIC receivership in April 2010 which in turn helped stabilize the banking industry in Puerto Rico.

John Affleck-Graves, professor of finance and executive vice president of the University, was given the Arnie Ludwig Outstanding Teacher Award. The honor is bestowed upon a faculty member who is chosen by Executive MBA students in the South Bend. This marks the fifth time that Affleck-Graves has received the outstanding teaching award.

The Leo Burke Outstanding Teacher Award, whose recipient is chosen by Executive MBA students in the Chicago Program, was awarded to Charles E. Bamford. An adjunct professor of strategy in the Department of Management at Notre Dame, Bamford also serves as a professor of entrepreneurship and strategy with the McColl School of Business at Queens University in Charlotte, N.C.

Mel Dowdy was the recipient of the Inspiring Educator Award – Executive Programs. Dowdy serves as the program faculty member in Executive Education and was the executive director of the Center for Organizational Excellence at Bon Secours Richmond Health Systems. Recognized for his superior performance in the classroom with non-degree programs, Dowdy also teaches two signature programs: Executive Integral Leadership and Unleashing Your Leadership Potential.

Founded in 1980, Notre Dame Executive Education provides leaders in the executive and management ranks the opportunity to develop and strengthen their leadership abilities and business acumen skills through both degree and non-degree programs.  Back to Top

 

Historic Union Forms United States Province of Priests and Brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross

On July 1, an historic union officially took effect when the former Eastern Province of Priests and Brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross merged into the Indiana Province to form the new United States Province of Priests and Brothers.

The merger was approved at the Congregation of Holy Cross’ general chapter meeting in Rome in the summer of 2010. In December, the two provinces agreed that the merger should be effected by the Superior General on July 1, on the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The ministries of the new U.S. Province include four colleges and universities: the University of Notre Dame; University of Portland in Portland, Oregon; King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; and Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts.

Other ministries include 15 parishes in the U.S. and Mexico; André House in Phoenix; the Downtown Chapel in Portland; Ave Maria Press in Notre Dame; Holy Cross Mission Center serving people around the world; and Holy Cross Family Ministries (HCFM) in North Easton, Mass. HCFM was founded by Servant of God Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., and encompasses Family Theater Productions, Family Rosary, and Father Peyton Family Institute. The United States Province is also present in Mexico, and the districts of Chile, Peru and East Africa (which includes Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania).

The United States Province’s religious members number more than 410 priests and brothers, plus 102 seminarians currently in formation. The administrative offices of the new Province will be located in Notre Dame, Ind.

The Congregation of Holy Cross is a Catholic religious order formed in 1837 in the little town of Sainte-Croix, (which translated means Holy Cross) France. Founder Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., joined a group of parish priests with a band of teaching brothers to fill the educational and spiritual void left by the upheaval of the French Revolution. Today there are approximately 1,500 Holy Cross religious working to educate both the heart s and minds of believers of Jesus Christ in 16 countries on five continents.

Holy Cross’ presence in America began in 1841 when Blessed Moreau sent one of his new, young priests, Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., to do mission work in the “New World.” Within a year, Father Sorin founded the University of Notre Dame.

More about the mission of the United States Province of Priests and Brothers is available at www.holycrossusa.org.  Back to Top

In This Issue

• Education Official Speaks on Challenges for Teachers at ACE Commencement

• Notre Dame Joins HathiTrust in Effort to Compile Massive Digital Library

• ND Political Scientist Wins Award for His First Book, God and the Founders

• Notre Dame Research Reveals Brain Network Connections

• Notre Dame Professor Wins International Association for Media and History Prize

• Four Notre Dame Faculty Named American Chemical Society Fellows

• Spirit Campaign Will Have Impact for Decades to Come

• Notre Dame Vision Program Offers Teens a Summer Camp of Faith

• STEP Program Serves Church by Offering Theology Online

• Executive Education Presents Annual Awards

• Historic Union Forms United States Province of Priests and Brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross