Financial aid benefactors to be honored March 3-4

Author: Shannon Roddel

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More than 250 University of Notre Dame benefactors from 28 states will be honored on campus Friday and Saturday (March 3 and 4) during the biennial Scholarship Fellowship Recognition Weekend.

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dames president, will welcome the guests at a reception Friday evening at which students will have an opportunity to meet the men and women who have underwritten their educations.

The big highlight of the recognition weekend for our guests is always the chance for them to get to know some of the students studying under their benefaction,said Louis Nanni, vice president for University relations.Im not sure who enjoys these meetings more, our students or our donors.

The weekend also will include a panel discussion, titledFulfilling the Promise: The Undergraduate Education Experience and Teaching, Research and Graduate Studies,featuring Thomas G. Burish, Notre Dames provost, and Dennis Jacobs, vice president, associate provost and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who was named the U.S. Professor of the Year in 2002.

In the past two decades Notre Dame has experienced a surge in financial aid support, which has allowed the University to institute a need-blind admissions policy and meet the full demonstrated financial need of all admitted students.The undergraduate scholarship endowment currently exceeds $1 billion, and donors who plan to attend this weekend have contributed $16.5 million to scholarships, fellowships and grants-in-aid.

The weekend will culminate with a recognition dinner Saturday honoring 35 benefactors who have given a total of $5.5 million to Notre Dame financial aid.Sean Klimczak, a 1998 alumnus who last May graduated first in his class in the MBA program atHarvardUniversity, will serve as guest speaker.Klimczak received the William J. Carey Scholarship for Notre Dame alumni pursuing MBAs at Harvard orStanfordUniversities.

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