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Science dean biking 3,250 miles to bring attention to rare disease research

2012-05-13T21:25:00-04:00

Greg Crawford, dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame, will be cycling 3,250 miles from Boston to Pebble Beach, Calif., to raise awareness and funds for research to find a cure for Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) disease. His third cross-country ride will start May 21 (Monday) and conclude June 22 (Friday), in time for the Parseghian Classic, a golf fundraiser at Pebble Beach Resorts.

The “Road to Discovery” bicycle ride demonstrates Notre Dame’s commitment to research to find a cure or treatments for the devastating disease that took the lives of three grandchildren of former Notre Dame head football coach Ara Parseghian.

The genetic, fatal neurodegenerative disease, which prevents the body from effectively processing cholesterol, primarily strikes children, who succumb to the disease before or during adolescence. Researchers have identified its cause and made significant progress toward treatment in recent years, but there is still no cure.

Last summer, Crawford and his wife, Renate, rode from Boston to Dallas, visiting families with children affected by the disease as well as other research centers across the country that also investigate NPC. This summer, Crawford will visit Notre Dame Clubs and families affected by NPC on the ride through Connecticut, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California.

Crawford is dedicated and motivated to fight the disease. He says, “It’s part of our mission to find an end to this disease. There are so many great minds out there, and so many partners who share a passion to get rid of this rare disease. We are particularly inspired by the Parseghian family and are honored to partner with them in the fight against NPC.”

“Notre Dame researchers are at the forefront of NPC research, and their advances in the understanding of this disease give hope to all NPC children and their families,” says Cindy Parseghian, who co-founded the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation just two months after three of her four children were diagnosed with NPC.

The traditional summer bike ride started in 2010 when the Crawfords rode together from Tucson, Ariz., where the Parseghian Foundation started in the mid-1990s, to Notre Dame to symbolize a newly strengthened partnership between the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation and the University.

Through the Michael, Marcia and Christa Parseghian Endowment for Excellence at Notre Dame, NPC researchers at the University and other U.S. institutions collaborate with other NPC researchers, parents and clinicians in Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, France and Canada to bring together expertise in molecular biology, drug discovery, cell biology and neurology, with results from clinical studies.

This time, the trip is coast-to-coast, starting in Boston on May 21 and concluding at Pebble Beach, where the Parseghian Classic will be held June 22-24 at Pebble Beach Resorts to raise funds for NPC research at Notre Dame and other institutions.

Visit the dean’s blog to read daily entries about his ride, the inspiring parents of children with NPC and the supportive Notre Dame family he will meet along the route.

Contact: Marissa Gebhard, 574-631-4465, gebhard.3@nd.edu

Originally published by Marissa Gebhard at newsinfo.nd.edu on May 11, 2012.

Mendoza ranked No. 1 for ethics and sustainability in Bloomberg Businessweek specialty rankings

2012-05-13T21:00:00-04:00

The Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame earned top five rankings in eight of 14 business specialty categories in the 2012 Bloomberg Businessweek annual ranking of the “Best Undergraduate Business Programs by Specialty,” released May 9.

The results included first-place rankings in ethics and sustainability, third-place rankings in macroeconomics, accounting and finance, a fourth-place spot in microeconomics, and fifth-place rankings in business law and information systems.

The specialty rankings are calculated using survey data collected as part of Bloomberg Businessweek’s annual ranking of the top undergraduate business programs. Mendoza received the overall No. 1 ranking in the 2012 survey for the third consecutive year.

Senior business students from the participating schools were asked to assign grades to their business programs in the 14 specialty areas: microeconomics, entrepreneurship, ethics, international business, sustainability, macroeconomics, operations management, accounting, quantitative methods, finance, marketing, corporate strategy, business law and information systems. Based on those grades, scores were calculated for each of the ranked schools in each area.

The full Bloomberg Businessweek story, including complete rankings in each specialty, is available here.

The Mendoza College had the most top five specialty rankings and tied with Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management for the most top 10 specialty rankings.

The Mendoza College of Business currently enrolls 1,888 undergraduate students in four departments: accountancy, finance, management and marketing. After completing the University’s innovative First Year of Studies program, Notre Dame business majors enter the Mendoza College in their sophomore year.

The Mendoza College also offers graduate degree programs – including a master of business administration, executive master of business administration, master of science in accountancy, and master of nonprofit administration – as well as non-degree executive education and nonprofit professional development programs.

Originally published by Shannon Chapla at newsinfo.nd.edu on May 10, 2012.

Room Inspections

2012-05-02T16:55:00-04:00

Official inspections of rooms on Thursday, May 3 beginning at 9:30 AM with the fourth floor. Rooms must be inspection ready as per a month's worth of advance notices.

We Are the Champions!

2012-05-01T23:00:00-04:00

Morrissey Manor went up against the Dawgs of Alumni Hall in the interhall soccer championship game at Alumni Stadium. We WON 2-1. The Manor was down 1-0 with 15 min left in the 2nd half and we scored the tying goal with 30 sec left. John Mundaden scored the tying goal! Then, there was one 5 min OT, Chris Aquino scored a goal 2-3 min into the OT for the win. Freshman Joe McNally played a key role in setting up both goals. Matt Hickey had the assist for the game winning goal.

This is the first interhall soccer championship for Morrissey Manor.

Erin Hoffmann Harding to succeed Father Doyle as VP for Student Affairs

2012-05-01T18:00:00-04:00

Erin Hoffmann Harding, associate vice president for strategic planning at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed vice president for student affairs at the University, succeeding Rev. Thomas P. Doyle, C.S.C., who will join Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives as a faculty fellow focusing on initiatives in Catholic educational leadership development. He also will continue pastoral ministry among students and assist the Office of Human Resources with an initiative related to integrating Catholic mission.

“Erin brings with her to this new position a wide range of extraordinary skills that will serve the University well,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president. “I appreciate her accepting this appointment and look forward to working closely with her and the division to enhance our student life initiatives, which have always been and will remain a distinctive part of Notre Dame’s educational experience.

“I am likewise grateful to Tom Doyle for his excellent leadership and service over the past two years. He brought renewed focus to our hallmark of residential life, introduced a vision of integrated student education in the Catholic, Holy Cross tradition, and oversaw the enhancement of our student life policies and procedures. Above all, he has been a superb priest and brother in Holy Cross. His pastoral leadership has been a gift to our community and it will be ideal for his new responsibilities.”

Harding will begin in her new position Aug. 1, until which time Father Doyle will continue to lead student affairs. A search for Harding’s successor will begin soon.

Appointed to her current position in July 2008, Harding previously served for three years as assistant vice president for strategic planning and special projects. The Office of Strategic Planning and Institutional Research was merged under Harding’s leadership with the University’s institutional research function, which encompasses external reporting to the U.S. Department of Education and rankings agencies, comparative analysis of peer institutions, development and reporting of a variety of internal and national constituent surveys, and the administration of the University’s course instructor feedback system. The expanded office now supports the president in the development and drafting of the University’s overall strategic plan, assesses progress toward the University’s five goals, consults with units and maintains a central repository for college, school and division strategic plans, and facilitates departmental reviews on behalf of the provost and the executive vice president.

Prior to coming to Notre Dame in 2005, Harding served as a management consultant in the Chicago and Cleveland offices of the international consulting firm McKinsey and Company Inc. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business and earned her juris doctor degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, Harding taught legal writing to first-year law students, was elected president of Harvard’s Board of Student Advisers, and received a dean’s award for her service to the law school community. She was the recipient of the Rev. Leonard A. Collins, C.S.C., and Alumni Association Distinguished Student awards as a student at Notre Dame and served as the student body treasurer. Her husband Ryan is also a Notre Dame graduate and an attorney, and they are the parents of a young son.

Originally published by Dennis Brown at newsinfo.nd.edu on May 01, 2012.

Director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies to address the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences

2012-04-26T22:00:00-04:00

This week, the Director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, A. James McAdams, will address the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Casina Pio IV in Vatican City at a plenary session on “The Global Quest for Tranquillitas Ordinis: Pacem in terris, Fifty Years Later.” Pacem in terris, an encyclical written in 1963 by Pope John XXIII, presents three core features of an international moral order: a set of principles to guide the relations among states; a novel prescription to govern these relations; and an ongoing challenge. McAdams, in a paper entitled “Which Europe? What Union?” applies these principles to the European Union’s response to the sovereign debt crisis. He suggests that if Germany took a more self-consciously European leadership role, its leadership could help to realize a sense of European identity that serves Pacem in terris’s conception of an international moral order.

This gathering of the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences is expected to include Reinhard Cardinal Marx, who offered the Nanovic Institute’s Keeley Vatican Lecture at Notre Dame in 2010; Walter Cardinal Kasper, a 2002 Notre Dame honorary degree recipient; as well as Nobel Prize winners in economics Kenneth Arrow and Joseph Stiglitz. Pope John Paul II founded the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences in 1994 for the purpose of “promoting the study and progress of the social sciences, primarily economics, sociology, law and political science.” The Academy seeks to foster dialogue that can aid the Church in the development of social doctrine and its application in contemporary society.

McAdams, the William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, has directed the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at Notre Dame since 2002. The Nanovic Institute is committed to enriching the intellectual culture of Notre Dame by creating an integrated, interdisciplinary home for students and faculty to explore the evolving ideas, cultures, beliefs, and institutions that shape Europe today. The Nanovic Institute continues to explore opportunities to develop Notre Dame’s relationship with the Vatican, such as through the Keeley Vatican Lecture series.

Program for The Global Quest for Tranquillitas Ordinis: Pacem in Terris, Fifty Years Later

Originally published by Monica Caro at nanovic.nd.edu on April 26, 2012.

2012 Faculty, Staff, and Student Award Recipients

2012-04-26T22:00:00-04:00

Distinguished Professor of the Year: Professor Jay Tidmarsh
This award is given annually to a full-time member of the regular NDLS faculty. This Professor will receive his/her award during our diploma ceremony and will speak at the ceremony as well.

McLean Faculty/Staff Award: Anne Hamilton and McLean Student Award: Wendy Tran
These awards are given to individuals who have done the most to contribute to the lives of students at the Law School. The winners should be persons who have donated their time and energy to making NDLS a better place.

Conrad Kellenberg Award: Kelly Jentzen
This award was created by the Class of 2005. It is awarded to a 3L who has followed in the footsteps of Professor Kellenberg by dedicating a substantial amount of time to the betterment of the community through service.

Class of 2012 Distinguished Staff Member Award: Anne Hamilton
This award is being given by the Class of 2012 to a full-time staff member of the Law School for exhibiting excellence in leadership, dedication, and professionalism.

Congratulations to all!

Originally published by Susan Good at law.nd.edu on April 26, 2012.

Rev. Paul Kollman, C.S.C., appointed to direct Center for Social Concerns

2012-04-17T09:00:00-04:00

Rev. Paul V. 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.

“Father Paul Kollman’s scholarship and teaching, his commitment to Catholic social teaching and his administrative experience all uniquely equip him for leadership of the Center for Social Concerns,” said Don Pope-Davis, vice president and associate provost for undergraduate studies.

Father Kollman has spent this semester teaching theology at Tangaza College in Nairobi.

“I’m humbled and honored to be asked to lead the Center for Social Concerns,” Father Kollman said. “I look forward to building on the vision of my predecessors, Center founder Father Don McNeill, C.S.C., and Father Bill Lies, C.S.C., and working with the host of talented and committed colleagues who have made the Center a vibrant place of engaged scholarship and service learning. I’m confident that together we can deepen the Center’s role in bringing together education of mind and heart, a goal long central to the mission of the Congregation of Holy Cross and of Notre Dame.”

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.

Originally published by Michael O. Garvey at newsinfo.nd.edu on April 16, 2012.

Have you seen the new library scanner or copier?

2012-04-17T09:00:00-04:00

There‘s a new addition to the Law Library‘s technology offerings. In room 2317 (behind the Rare Book Room), you can find an INDUS 9000 overhead scanner, ready to use! The scanner makes it possible to scan books or pages as PDFs or JPEGs, which can then be saved to a flash drive or emailed.

Best of all, it’s free!

The scanner has an easy-to-use, intuitive touchscreen, and complete directions can be found on the machine. For more information or assistance, ask a Circulation Desk attendant.

What you need to know about the overhead scanner

Touch screen to activate.
Place book/page face-up in the middle of the scanner bed.
Select settings (Color/Gray Scale/Black and White; Split Pages in Two; Image Type)
Press the green Scan button or use foot pedal.
Delete images and adjust settings as needed.
Save file to USB drive (port located on front of scanner bed) or email.
Press the yellow End Session button when you are finished or ready to start a new PDF or JPEG file.

Just in time to check out those old exams or make copies of your out-lines, the library is here to help! The library‘s two public copiers have been replaced by one newer model.

These new options are designed to be user-friendly and easy to use. Directions are located near each machine. If you need assistance, don‘t hesitate to ask the Circulation Desk attendant for help.

Try them out and give your feedback (e.g., feel free to suggest improvements to the printed instructions) to the Circulation Desk.

What you need to know about the new copier

Good news for those who have been frustrated by the copy cards needed to use the public photocopiers throughout the library!

The old machines are being replaced by a Xerox machine that will take Domer Dollars (which can be added to your ID at food.nd.edu).
The price of copies will remain 10¢ per page.
The machines will also scan to email for free; documents can then be printed using your print quota.
The new copier is located on the second floor, adjacent to the Main Read-ing Room.
Visitors can still obtain a copy card at the Circulation Desk.

Originally published by Susan Good at law.nd.edu on April 16, 2012.

Notre Dame to award 11 honorary degrees at Commencement

2012-04-15T23:00:00-04:00

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 May 20 (Sunday).

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 May 19 (Saturday).

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. A native of Les Cayes, Haiti, he received his medical degree in 1991 and immediately joined CRS. After the earthquake, he visited hospitals, assessed needs and helped search through the rubble for survivors and much-needed medical supplies. He also has led CRS efforts to provide temporary shelters for those the quake made homeless and traveled extensively to speak about the current progress and needs in Haiti.

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. Born and educated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he has taught at the universities of Minnesota, Chicago, Princeton, New York and Texas and is currently a professor of mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin. His problem-solving has contributed greatly to science in the areas of homogenization, nonlinear elliptic equations and free boundary problems. The American Mathematical Society awarded him the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement in 2009.

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. Since temporarily dropping out of Yale in 1967 to become television’s first-ever Olympics researcher, no one has done more to expand the popularity of the Olympics and make his network the home of the Olympic Games since 1992. With his combination of creative vision and business savvy, he also led for 22 years NBC’s coverage of professional baseball, basketball and football, including several Super Bowls. His son Charlie is a 2005 Notre Dame graduate.

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. Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Atlanta in 2004. He has written extensively on Church issues, including pastoral statements on the death penalty and euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide, and has published numerous articles on the subject of liturgy.

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. A double major in economics and theology, he went on to receive a master’s degree in theology and a law degree in 1985 — all from Notre Dame. He served in the Justice Department and advised the White House on church-state relations and constitutional issues under then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General Samuel Alito. He has written many articles on religious liberty, as well as a book titled “The Right to be Wrong: Ending the Culture War over Religion in America.”

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. Born in New York City when his father served as Turkish consul-general, he completed high school in Turkey before earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in London. He started with Coca-Cola in 1978, first learning the company’s marketing and distribution systems as a truck driver. He rose through the company’s management ranks in Central Asia and Europe until 1999, when he became president and CEO of the Efes Beverage Group, a multinational enterprise based in Istanbul. He rejoined Coca-Cola after six years and became its CEO in July 2008.

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. Born in Midland, Texas, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame and graduate degree from University of Michigan before serving in the U.S. Army Special Forces. He moved back to Midland in 1972 and joined the oil business his father, also a Notre Dame alumnus and Trustee, had started in the 1950s. His service to Notre Dame includes acting as president of the Notre Dame Alumni Association and a member of the College of Engineering Advisory Council. 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. Born in Gary, Ind., he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in theology at Notre Dame, as well as a doctorate in education at Indiana University. After his ordination in 1975, he held various positions at Notre Dame, including admissions counselor, assistant rector, business professor, executive assistant to the president and vice president for student affairs. He was selected to lead the University of Portland in 1990 and led a major expansion of its campus, endowed teaching chairs and funding, including a tripling of the university’s endowment. He became provincial superior in 2003.

James Wagner (doctor of engineering) — An award-winning teacher and scientist and a prolific author, Wagner is the 19th president of Emory University. A native of Silver Spring, Md., he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Delaware and master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He joined the engineering faculty at Hopkins in 1984 and later became a department chair before moving to Case Western Reserve University in 1998. A strong advocate of liberal education, he served as a dean, provost and interim president for five years at Case Western. He became Emory’s president in 2003 and has continued to speak and write prolifically, especially on the relationship between ethics, science and the role of the university.

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. A native of Hong Kong, Woo was educated by Maryknoll sisters through secondary school there before attending Purdue University, where she earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. She joined the faculty at Purdue in 1981 and eventually rose to director of the Krannert School of Management and associate executive vice president for academic affairs. She came to Notre Dame as Mendoza’s dean in 1997 and quickly became a leading voice for integrating Catholic faith and business excellence, as evidenced by Mendoza’s focus on ethics and its top ranking for undergraduate business schools for the last three years.

Originally published by Brendan O’Shaughnessy at newsinfo.nd.edu on April 12, 2012.

Sen. Durbin Targets Private Student Loan Defaults

2012-04-10T13:00:00-04:00

A top Senate Democrat took aim at the private student-loan industry Tuesday, calling for new rules that would allow educational debts to be wiped away during bankruptcy. “It is clear that too many students have been steered into loans that they will not be able to repay and that they will never be able to escape,” Durbin said.

To learn more about Sen. Durbin’s plan, read the WaPo story.

Originally published by Susan Good at law.nd.edu on April 09, 2012.

Barry Cushman to join Notre Dame Law School faculty

2012-04-10T13:00:00-04:00

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 observed 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.

John M. Finnis, the Biolchini Family Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School and professor of law in the University of Oxford, noted that Cushman will strengthen and lead Notre Dame’s already strong group of scholars in public-law areas, and that his interdisciplinary experience and accomplishments will contribute to the activities of a number of the University’s departments and enhance the Law School’s various collaborations with them.

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.

Originally published by Charles Williams at law.nd.edu on April 3.

Originally published by Charles Williams at law.nd.edu on April 03, 2012.

April 3 Natural Law Lecture to Feature University College London Professor Tasioulas

2012-04-01T02:00:00-04:00

John Tasioulas, Quain Professor of Jurisprudence in the Faculty of Laws at University College London will be delivering the 2012 Natural Law Lecture at NDLS on Tuesday, April 3, at 4 p.m. in Eck Hall of Law Room 1140. The lecture is open to the public.

Professor Tasioulas has written widely on issues regarding human rights, punishment, and international law. He is the co-editor (with Samantha Besson) of The Philosophy of International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010) and is currently working on a monograph on the philosophy of human rights.

Tasioulas was born in Australia, his parents having emigrated to that country from Greece in the early 1960s. He received degrees in philosophy and law from the University of Melbourne and studied as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford where he completed a D.Phil on moral relativism under the supervision of Joseph Raz.

He was a Reader in Moral and Legal Philosophy at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford (1998-2010). Prior to that he was a Lecturer in Jurisprudence at the University of Glasgow (1992-1998). He has held visiting positions at the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne.

Originally published by Susan Good at law.nd.edu on March 30, 2012.

Parents rank Notre Dame No. 4 ‘Dream College’

2012-04-01T02:00:00-04:00

The University of Notre Dame is the No. 4 “dream college” among parents of college applicants, the Princeton Review reported in its annual “College Hopes and Worries” survey. Notre Dame moved up from the No. 9 slot last year.

Released Tuesday (March 27), the rankings are, in order, Stanford University, Princeton University, Harvard College, Notre Dame, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Duke University, Yale University and University of Southern California.

The Princeton Review surveyed 7,445 prospective students and 3,195 parents for the results. Respondents from all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and abroad filled out the 15-question survey.

The nation’s pre-eminent Catholic university and rated among the top 25 of all U.S. institutions of higher learning, Notre Dame is one of the nation’s most selective universities, admitting fewer than half of its freshman applicants and enrolling more than half of those who are admitted.

The Princeton Review is a New York-based company that sells its services and books to assist college applicants in improving performances on standardized tests and in navigating the admissions process. It is not affiliated with Princeton University.

Notre Dame has been ranked in the top 10 of the Princeton Review survey each year since the survey’s inception in 2003.

Originally published by Brittany Collins at newsinfo.nd.edu on March 30, 2012.

Ken Hackett, former CRS president, to receive 2012 Laetare Medal

2012-03-18T23:00:00-04:00

Ken Hackett, former president of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), will receive the University of Notre Dame’s 2012 Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics, at Notre Dame’s 167th University Commencement ceremony May 20 (Sunday).

“Ken Hackett has responded to a Gospel imperative with his entire career,” said Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. “His direction of the Catholic Church’s outreach to the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick and unsheltered of the world has blended administrative acumen with genuine compassion in a unique and exemplary way.”

A native of West Roxbury, Mass., Hackett graduated from Boston College in 1968, enrolling in the Peace Corps the same year because, as he has said, “it seemed like an interesting thing to do.”

Assigned to rural Ghana, living in a Catholic mission in the Volta Lake region and working in an agricultural cooperative project, Hackett underwent what he recently described as “my first experience in warehouse management” as well as of the “actual impact of American food aid on the health and well-being of very poor kids in a very isolated part of a West African country.”

The experiences were formative. Following his completion of his Peace Corps assignment, Hackett joined CRS in 1972, starting his career in Sierra Leone, where he managed both a nationwide leprosy control and a maternal and child health program. He has since served in CRS posts throughout Africa and Asia, as well as in administrative positions at the CRS Baltimore headquarters. As the CRS regional director for Africa, he managed the agency’s response to the Ethiopian famine of 1984-85. He also supervised CRS operations in East Africa during the 1990s crisis in Somalia.

Appointed president of CRS in 1993, Hackett served in that position for 18 years, retiring last December. He was succeeded as CRS president by Carolyn Woo, former dean of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

During Hackett’s tenure as the sixth president of CRS, the agency redoubled its effort to engage the Catholic community of the United States in its worldwide work, by establishing a division that would focus on reaching out to dioceses, parishes, Catholic organizations, colleges and universities and for the first time adding lay people to its board of directors. Now among the world’s most effective and efficient relief and development agencies, it operates in more than 100 countries, with a global staff of nearly 5,000.

Former North America president of Caritas Internationalis, the confederation of humanitarian agencies of the Catholic Church, Hackett continues to serve on the board of the Vatican Pontifical Commission Cor Unum and as an adviser to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In addition to an honorary degree received from Notre Dame in 2007, he also holds honorary degrees from Boston College, Cabrini College, University of Great Falls, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Mount St. Mary’s University, New York Medical College, Siena College, University of San Diego, Santa Clara University, Villanova University and Walsh University.

The Laetare (pronounced lay-TAH-ray) Medal is so named because its recipient is announced each year in celebration of Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent on the Church calendar. “Laetare,” the Latin word for “rejoice,” is the first word in the entrance antiphon of the Mass that Sunday, which ritually anticipates the celebration of Easter. The medal bears the Latin inscription “Magna est veritas et prevalebit” (“Truth is mighty, and it shall prevail”).

Established at Notre Dame in 1883, the Laetare Medal was conceived as an American counterpart of the Golden Rose, a papal honor which antedates the 11th century. The medal has been awarded annually at Notre Dame to a Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church and enriched the heritage of humanity.”

Among the 135 previous recipients of the Laetare Medal are Civil War Gen. William Rosecrans, operatic tenor John McCormack, President John F. Kennedy, Catholic Worker foundress Dorothy Day, novelist Walker Percy, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, labor activist Monsignor George G. Higgins, and jazz composer Dave Brubeck.

Originally published by Michael O. Garvey at newsinfo.nd.edu on March 18, 2012.

John Ashcroft to deliver keynote for Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy Symposium

2012-03-18T23:00:00-04:00

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft will deliver the keynote address at the annual Symposium hosted by the Law School’s Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy March 26.

The one-hour key-note address will begin promptly at 12:30 p.m. in the Patrick F. McCartan Courtroom. It will include a panel discussion moderated by NDLS Professor Lisa Casey. A light reception will follow in the atrium.

The two-hour panel discussion will begin promptly at 9:30 a.m. in Room 3130 and feature:
John Ratcliffe, a partner in the Aschroft law firm in Dallas, will speak on the “Expanding Role of FCPA on Corporate Governance.”
Glen Schleyer, a partner in the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City, will speak on “Shareholder vs. Director Control on Social Policy Matters.”
Professor Wulf Kaal, of the University of St. Thomas School of Law, will speak on “Contingent Capital as a Corporate Governance Tool.”
Dr. William Bradford, Professor of Law at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, will speak on “Alternative Means of Corporate Governance.”

Originally published by Susan Good at law.nd.edu on March 16, 2012.

Dorm energy competition: May the best quad win

2012-03-06T21:00:00-05:00

At this time of year, you might expect Notre Dame students to be focusing on midterms or planning for spring break. But instead, students across campus are getting ready for a new kind of dorm energy competition.

New state-of-the-art meters and a new online dashboard will now enable students to see how much energy their dorm is using and how they rank in the competition at any time. The interactive dashboard was created by Lucid Design Group, a software company that specializes in information feedback that inspires energy and resource conservation. The dashboard engages students not just by providing regularly updated data, but also by giving students a social media-based forum to commit to energy-saving behaviors and share winning strategies.

“This has been a challenging project to implement, and we’re so grateful to everyone at Utilities and OIT who has worked so hard on it,” said Erin Hafner, programs manager in the :Office of Sustainability":http://green.nd.edu. “Other universities have utilized energy dashboards to realize a 10 to 30 percent reduction in energy use, and we are looking forward to maximizing the potential of this technology for student engagement and education.”

This semester’s competition will have an additional twist: Rather than each dorm competing against all others, the dorms have been divided into four geographic groups that will compete as teams. The four teams are North Quad, South Quad, West Quad and Mod Quad, and the winning quad will receive $1,000 to divide among its member dorms.

“There’s no better way to rally up energy conservation than some wholesome competition,” said Martha Dee, sustainability commissioner of Walsh Hall. “I am so stoked to win $1,000 for my quad,” added Patrick Rahill, sustainability commissioner of St. Ed’s.

The savings accrued by the residence halls through the Quad Energy Competition will be entered into Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN), a nationwide energy competition hosted by Lucid Design Group in collaboration with the National Wildlife Federation, Alliance to Save Energy, and the U.S. Green Building Council Center for Green Schools.

“Nearly 250,000 students at 150 colleges across the U.S. and Canada are participating in CCN 2012,” said Anne Whitty, a 2012 Notre Dame graduate and co-president of GreeND. “The collective goal is to conserve one gigawatt-hour (a million kilowatt hours), and our goal here at Notre Dame is to rank among the top conserving schools across the country.”

The competition runs from March 10 to 30. Each dorm will be ranked based on how much electricity it conserves relative to a baseline collected for the second half of February. Since the competition runs over spring break, students can get an early lead by unplugging all appliances, including refrigerators, televisions and gaming systems, before they leave town. (Make sure freezers are defrosted with care so they don’t leak.)

The real-time metering and dashboard system was funded by the Office of Sustainability through the Green Loan Fund, a $2 million revolving fund established by the University to support energy and resource conservation projects. The $1,000 prize is co-sponsored by the Office of Sustainability, Center for Sustainable Energy at Notre Dame, Student Government and greeND.

Originally published by Rachel Novick at green.nd.edu on March 2, 2012.

Originally published by Rachel Novick at green.nd.edu on March 02, 2012.

Professor Kaveny Interviewed on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

2012-03-06T21:00:00-05:00

Professor M. Cathleen Kaveny discussed Catholic moral theology in an extended interview with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show March 1.

An unedited version of the interview is available on The Daily Show’s website.

Professor Kaveny is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame and serves on the steering committee of Notre Dame’s Institute for Advanced Study, which supports research that engages with the Catholic intellectual tradition. She is the author of “Law’s Virtues: Fostering Autonomy and Solidarity in American Society” (Fall 2012).

More information about Professor Kaveny is available on her NDLS faculty page.

Originally published by Susan Good at law.nd.edu on March 02, 2012.

Manor Council 2012-2013

2012-02-28T13:00:00-05:00

Christopher Dillon (Sophomore) and Paul Luczak (Freshman) will serve as President and Vice-President of Manor Council in 2012-2013.

William McMahon (Freshman) will serve as Morrissey's Senator.

Manorites interested in making application for a Manor Council Commissioner position are asked to download and complete the 2012-2013 Commissioner Application.

Resident Assistants 2012-2013

2012-02-27T07:00:00-05:00

Morrissey was blessed with 19 internal candidates and 6 external. Any one of our applicants could have been an RA - such was the high caliber of our pool.

The following Manorites will serve as Resident Assistants next academic year:

Dallas Bunsa
Kevin Creamer
Michael Donnelly
Nathaniel Gotcher
Michael Mercurio
E.J. Sanchez
Michael Urda
Adam Wojcik