Helen Alvaré to receive the 2012 Evangelium Vitae Medal from the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Helen Alvaré to receive the 2012 Evangelium Vitae Medal from the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life Helen Alvaré to receive the 2012 Evangelium Vitae Medal from the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life Published: October 02, 2011 Author: Michael O. Garvey Helen M. Alvaré, associate professor of law George Mason University, will receive the 2012 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal. “Helen Alvaré has courageously and powerfully defended the cause of life against all comers for two decades,” said David Solomon, chair of the fund’s governing committee and William P. and Hazel B. White Director of the Center for Ethics and Culture. “In some of the darkest hours for the pro-life cause in this country, her voice was heard clearly. With a public presence in the popular debate, a foot in the scholarly world that bolsters and sustains the deep arguments on life issues, and her extraordinary ability to connect with people, she has been a hero to us all. We are honored to award her the Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal.” The Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal, which is announced annually on Respect Life Sunday, the first Sunday of October, consists of a specially commissioned medal and $10,000 prize, to be presented at a spring banquet which will be held this year on April 25. Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Pro Life Activities, was the medal’s 2011 recipient. Alvaré earned her law degree from Cornell University in 1984 and a master’s degree in systematic theology from The Catholic University of America in 1989. She has practiced with the Philadelphia law firm of Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young, specializing in commercial litigation and free exercise of religion matters. Before joining George Mason’s law school faculty, she taught at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law. In 1987, Alvaré joined the Office of General Counsel for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), drafting amicus briefs in leading U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning abortion, euthanasia and the First Amendment’s establishment clause. For the next ten years, she worked with the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities at the NCCB, lobbying, testifying before federal congressional committees, lecturing nationwide, and speaking on numerous television and radio programs for the U.S. Catholic bishops. She also assisted the Holy See on matters concerning women, marriage and the family, and respect for human life. Alvaré chaired the commission investigating clerical abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and is an advisor to Pope Benedict XVI’s Pontifical Council for the Laity, as well as an ABC News consultant. Her scholarship concerns current controversies about abortion’s impact on women, marriage, parenting and the new reproductive technologies. The Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life is an expendable fund at the University of Notre Dame dedicated to educating Notre Dame students regarding the dignity of human life, specifically at its beginning stages, and to encouraging relevant understanding, support and involvement among the entire Notre Dame community on beginning of life issues. The Fund is administered by a five-member committee whose members are Solomon; Elizabeth Kirk, research fellow at the Center for Ethics and Culture; Rev. Wilson Miscamble, C.S.C., professor of history; O. Carter Snead, associate professor of law, and Daniel Philpott, associate professor of political science and peace studies. Contact: Angela Pfister, 574-631-1868, pfister.5@nd.edu"pfister.5@nd.edu Posted In: Faith Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related October 03, 2022 dCEC to Award 2023 ND Evangelium Vitae Medal to Robert P. George September 22, 2022 In memoriam: Rev. Richard Warner, C.S.C., longtime leader for Notre Dame, Congregation of Holy Cross September 15, 2022 In new book on global Catholicism, Provost John McGreevy explores modern history, current challenges of the Church September 15, 2022 Death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean to speak at Notre Dame September 14, 2022 Apostolic nuncio to Great Britain to deliver the 2022 Keeley Vatican Lecture For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn