2017: Notre Dame Year in Review | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation University of Notre Dame 2017 Notre Dame Year in Review Menu Notre Dame marked its 175th anniversary year in fittingly historic fashion, celebrating landmarks in its research, its international presence, and its benefaction, to name just a few areas. The year 2017 showcased how the University is using knowledge in service to justice and human flourishing while continuing to live out its mission to be a distinctive Catholic institution of higher learning. Below are selected stories from the past year at Notre Dame. University News Research International Faith From the Academy University News 175 Years of Notre Dame The story of Notre Dame is one of unbridled optimism and profound faith. Its past is traced to French explorers and missionaries in the 17th century. Its present is characterized by the rigorous pursuit of truth in every field as a preeminent Catholic research institution. View Site Quenching the thirst for justice: Brazilian judge Sérgio Moro receives Notre Dame Award Upon receiving the Notre Dame Award from University president Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Brazilian judge Sérgio Moro said, “the age of our robber barons is ending.” View Feature Father Hesburgh honored with U.S. Postal Service stamp A stamp honoring the late Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987, was unveiled during a ceremony Sept. 1 at Purcell Pavilion inside the Joyce Center on campus. Read Article Vice President Mike Pence honored as Notre Dame's 172nd Commencement speaker Vice President Mike Pence received an honorary degree and served as principal speaker at the 172nd commencement ceremony May 21. He became the first vice president of the United States to deliver the commencement address at Notre Dame. Read Article Pilgrims embark on the Notre Dame Trail In the tradition of Father Sorin's inspirational journey and intrepid spirit, pilgrims retraced his journey from Vincennes to Notre Dame. View Feature Rev. Gregory J. Boyle, S.J., founder of Homeboy Industries, received Notre Dame's 2017 Laetare Medal “For nearly 30 years, Father Boyle has served men and women who have been incarcerated and involved with gangs, and, in doing so, has helped them to discover the strength and hope necessary to transform their lives,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. View Feature Former Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian dies at age 94 Legendary coach Ara Parseghian, who guided the University of Notre Dame's 1966 and 1973 national championship football teams and is a member of the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame, died on August 2. Read Article Notre Dame opens new facilities with a pair of free events Corbett Family Hall: A dynamic mix of academics, community, and technology O’Neill Hall: A crown jewel for music performance and scholarship Completion of Nanovic Hall brings social sciences students and faculty together New Office of Military and Veterans Affairs aims to recruit more military veterans Former chiefs of staff offer wide range of views at Notre Dame Forum Catholic university presidents to reflect on 50-year Land O'Lakes legacy One-person play on Notre Dame founder, "Sorin: A Notre Dame Story," premiered Aug. 30 Major Gifts Notre Dame receives first-of-its-kind $100 million unrestricted commitment from entrepreneur Kenn Ricci The single largest unrestricted guaranteed gift ever committed to the University is being made through a Philanthropic Succession Partnership, an innovative giving structure developed by Ricci. Read Article Ansari family's $15 million gift to Notre Dame aims to unite global religions Smith family makes $15 million gift to Notre Dame for recreation center Rileys make significant gift to Notre Dame; largest gift directed to financial aid in University's history New scholarship established at Notre Dame in Hank Aaron's name $50 million in gifts to support Notre Dame and the Congregation of Holy Cross Raclin, Murphys make lead gift for new art museum at Notre Dame Research Notre Dame research funding reaches record-breaking levels The University of Notre Dame has received $138.1 million in research funding for fiscal year (FY) 2017, surpassing the previous record of $133.7 million set in FY 2015. Additionally, the University also broke its monthly record receiving $27.6 million in June alone. Read Article Digging deep to find the future: Predicting the future of climate change A chance meeting a decade ago in a graduate school hallway led paleoecologist Jason McLachlan to create a Jurassic Park-like wonder in Notre Dame's greenhouse, where rows of salt marsh bulrushes have germinated from 100-year-old seeds. View Feature Gridiron Gadgets "The drawing as a humanoid robot playing football. A quarterback," recalls Bill Hederman. The drawing gave Hederman an idea. He reached out to a couple of his College of Engineering classmates with a proposal for a new kind of robotics competition - one that might act as an interest-builder as well as an academically valuable experience. View Feature New study finds extensive use of fluorinated chemicals in fast food wrappers Americans may be consuming fast food wrapped in paper treated with perfluorinated chemicals — the same chemicals used in stain-resistant products, firefighting materials and nonstick cookware. Read Article School vouchers bring more money to Catholic schools — but at a cost, study finds School voucher programs, which use government funds to support students attending private schools, are rising in popularity around the United States. These programs raise important questions about church-state issues. Read Article Super Speed In 1882, an ambitious Notre Dame student named Albert Zahm built what might have been the first wind tunnel in the United States so that he could study the lift and drag of various wing shapes. Today, Thomas Juliano, an expert in fluid mechanics, is building the country's largest quiet hypersonic wind tunnel. View Feature Homemade Poison Notre Dame health experts respond to lead crisis by identifying the cause of the high lead levels in St. Joseph County and help guide the cash-strapped health department's response. View Feature Shelter and the Storm A few days after Hurricane Harvey struck Houston and a week after classes started at Notre Dame, Tracy Kijewski-Correa, a structural engineering professor, called about an urgent email while she waited in the car during her son’s tutoring session. Chase the storm, assess the damage, determine how to improve future construction. View Feature Master Builders When air speeds inside a hypersonic wind tunnel are expected to reach 4,000 miles per hour, the crafting of the most critical part of the tunnel — its 25-foot, 5-ton stainless steel nozzle – needs to be hyper-exact. So the aerospace engineers designing Notre Dame’s Mach 6 wind tunnel turned to their in-house experts at the machine shop in the basement of the Hessert Laboratory for Aerospace Research. View Feature Little Giants Michael Pfrender sits facing a whiteboard in his lab at the Galvin Life Science Center. He’s discussing the genomics of Daphnia – water fleas, found in every standing body of water in the world – and has a tendency to sketch when he speaks. View Feature Researchers use light to manipulate mosquitoes Scientists at the University of Notre Dame have found that exposure to just 10 minutes of light at night suppresses biting and manipulated flight behavior in the mosquito most responsible for transmitting malaria in Africa. Read Article Novel platform uses nanoparticles to detect peanut allergies Researchers have developed a novel platform to more accurately detect and identify the presence and severity of peanut allergies, without directly exposing patients to the allergen. Read Article Economic benefits of admitting refugees outweigh costs Although working-age adult refugees who enter the United States often rely on public assistance programs, a study by researchers at the University of Notre Dame indicates that the long-term economic benefit of admitting refugees outweighs the initial costs. Read Article Researchers propose new diagnostic model for psychiatric disorders Researchers create first low-energy particle accelerator beam underground in the United States Notre Dame to lead NNSA-funded center focused on nuclear chemistry Students explore interdisciplinary connections between architecture and health New engineering research center to focus on challenges of upgrading shale gas Study shows electronic health information exchanges could cut billions in Medicare spending Notre Dame leads $11.5 million study to solve problem of drug resistant malaria Heads-up, CEOs — corporate social responsibility may get you fired, study finds The lasting impact of Martin Luther and the Reformation International Faith and Reason: Notre Dame-Newman Centre to engage Irish millennials Culminating a four-day visit to Ireland, University of Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. joined the Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, today to inaugurate the Notre Dame-Newman Centre for Faith and Reason in the nation’s capital with a Mass at the historic Newman University Church. View Feature Steps in Time Eight members of the Notre Dame–Saint Mary’s College Irish Dance Team took the stage. Marching in a line, the four pairs stepped in coordinated time to their marks, as they had done at least a hundred times during rehearsals over the last few months. This occasion was different, of course. If that reality wasn’t obvious, they needed only glance at the brightly colored banner upstage. View Feature Verifying Peace: Kroc Institute will monitor peace implementation in Colombia On Wednesday (May 31), peace was the centerpiece topic as the Alumni Club of Colombia hosted an International Hesburgh Lecture in the capital city of Bogota in conjunction with Pontifica Universidad Javeriana, one of the country’s most important Catholic universities. View Feature Notre Dame in Rome After concelebrating Mass and meeting briefly with Pope Francis earlier in the week, University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., met with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States, the Vatican's foreign minister, and discussed challenges and opportunities for the Church in countries around the world. View Feature This England After months of preparation and anticipation, the Robinson Shakespeare Company travels to England to perform Cymbeline and explore Shakespearean history in Stratford-upon-Avon and London. View Feature Learning through the soles of the feet: A closer look at the Dublin Global Gateway Since its opening in 1998, the gateway has grown into a hub for more than 1,500 Notre Dame undergraduates who have come here to broaden their intellectual and cultural horizons in virtually every discipline. Or whatever is their cup of tea, one might say. View Feature The Pearls of Africa For the last four years, the Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development (NDIGD) has brought 25 young people from African nations to campus each summer for six weeks of classes in business and entrepreneurship known as the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. View Feature Notre Dame in China As Communist Party officials streamed into this burgeoning capital of 21 million people for the convening of the party’s 19th congress, the University of Notre Dame drew scores of educators and government and corporate officials to mark the opening of its Global Gateway here. View Feature Notre Dame moves up to No. 3 in the nation for study abroad participation At Notre Dame University Bangladesh: Following Papal Visit, Superstar is Born Faith Ecumenical prayer service affirms Christian unity in challenging times University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., hosted leaders from four Christian denominations, along with local Christian clergy and worshippers, for the Nov. 5 (Sunday) Common Prayer of Reconciliation and Remembrance in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Read Article Bridging a Divide: Notre Dame hosts Catholic leaders from East Europe Catholic leaders from Central and Eastern European countries participated in a weeklong program on nonprofit administration with other leaders from around the world. View Feature Gabriel Said Reynolds tapped by Vatican for Catholic-Muslim dialogue on religious extremism Gabriel Said Reynolds, professor of Islamic studies and theology at the University of Notre Dame, is one of 15 Catholic delegates invited by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) to participate in a bilateral conversation with 15 Muslim counterparts at Al-Azhar al-Sharif Center for Dialogue (ASCD) Feb. 22-23 in Cairo, Egypt. Read Article University of Notre Dame to convene African theology conference in Rome Theologians, Catholic Church leaders, graduate students and lay men and women from around Africa and North America will gather March 23-25 at the University of Notre Dame’s Rome Global Gateway for African Christian Theology: Memories and Mission for the 21st Century, a conference examining the past, present and future of African theology in the Catholic tradition. Read Article Majority of persecuted Christian communities build resilience through adaptive strategies, study finds Faculty and students to participate in Vatican meeting on nuclear disarmament Inaugural Gold Mass and lecture uplift those in science and Engineering From the Academy Keough School of Global Affairs opens at Notre Dame The Donald R. Keough School of Global Affairs, Notre Dame’s first new school in nearly a century, has opened its doors to Notre Dame and the world. Housed in the newly completed Jenkins Hall, the Keough School now enrolls 38 students in its new master of global affairs program. The students come from 22 countries and bring a wealth of professional experience in international development, education, peacebuilding, environmental conservation, human rights, humanitarian assistance, journalism and other fields. Read Article Notre Dame philosopher Alvin Plantinga awarded 2017 Templeton Prize Alvin Plantinga, John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, was named the 2017 Templeton Prize Laureate by the John Templeton Foundation. View Feature U.S. Senate confirms Professor Amy Barrett as federal judge The U.S. Senate voted Oct. 31 to confirm Notre Dame Law Professor Amy Coney Barrett as a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Read Article Record 38 students and alumni receive Fulbright Awards for 2017-2018 Women Lead: Profiles of seven pre-eminent faculty members Notre Dame California opens Palo Alto facility to support coursework, innovation and collaboration in Silicon Valley C.J. Pine named 2017 valedictorian; José Alberto Suárez selected as salutatorian Junior Rebecca Blais awarded 2017 Truman Scholarship First historic preservation graduate reconstructs Rome Acclaim for English professor’s new Thoreau biography shows transcendentalism’s resonance with modern audiences Notre Dame launches Inspired Leadership Initiative to help accomplished ‘retirees’ discern and catalyze the next stage of their lives Top Photos of 2017 Copyright © 2018 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 46556 Phone 574-631-5000 Accessibility Information