Charles M.MikeHarper, retired chair and chief executive officer of ConAgra Foods and of RJR Nabisco, has made a $10 million gift to the University of Notre Dame to support the construction of Harper Hall, a new building for expanded medical school and cancer research initiatives at the Indiana University 91��Ƶ of Medicine-South Bend (IUSM-SB) in partnership with Notre Dame.

The gift will be combined with $10 million recently appropriated by the state to IU for the project. The state funds were included in the budget bill, which passed the General Assembly on April 29 and was signed into law May 11 by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

We are immensely grateful for Mikes generosity, leadership and vision in this innovative partnership between the private and public sectors,said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dames president.By combining the resources and research excellence of IU and Notre Dame, we will be able to make even more significant contributions in the battle against a disease that afflicts so many in our world.

We likewise appreciate the confidence and foresight of state leaders who played such a pivotal role in securing funds for this project, in particular House Speaker Pat Bauer. Others who deserve our special thanks are Sens. Bob Meeks, Joe Zakas and John Broden, Reps. Bill Crawford, Ryan Dvorak and David Niezgodski, and Gov. Daniels.

Harpers gift is in memory of his late wife, Josie.

My wife Josie and I grew up, dated and then were married inSouth Bend,he said.In 1999 she passed away from lung cancer. Our four children and I can think of no better tribute to this wonderful woman than the establishment of a cancer institute in theshadow of the Golden Dome in partnership with the state ofIndiana.

Dr. Rudy Navari, assistant dean and director of IUSM-SB and director of Notre DamesWaltherCancerResearchCenter, lauded Harpers decision to make a gift that would have such significant impact on his hometown.

Cancer research is the No. 1 research priority of the IU Medical 91��Ƶ and of the highest importance at Notre Dame,he said.This facility will allow us to bring research being conducted in many areas under one roof in a designated cancer research area. With more research space comes the prospect of adding more research faculty, both which will allow us to get to the next level of cancer research.

Harper Hall will be of similar design as Raclin-Carmichael Hall, which houses IUSM-SB and Notre DamesKeckCenterfor Transgene Research at the corner ofAngela BoulevardandNotre Dame Avenue.

The new facility, which will be adjacent to Raclin-Carmichael, will include laboratories and offices for IUSM-SB and Notre Dames cancer research activities under the auspices of a new Mike and Josie Harper Cancer Research Institute. Scientists from Notre Dame andIndianaUniversitywill collaborate on research in the area of cancer biology, with an emphasis on genomics and proteomics.

Born inLansing,Mich., and raised inSouth Bend, Harper earned his bachelors degree in engineering fromPurdueUniversityand his master of business administration degree from theUniversityofChicago.

His professional career began at General Motors Corp., where he worked for five years as an engineer. He then spent 20 years working for Pillsbury Corp. inMinneapolis, leaving as group vice president responsible for poultry and food service businesses.

When Harper became chief operating officer and executive vice president of ConAgra in 1974, the companys annual sales totaled approximately $700 million. When he retired as chair and CEO in 1992, sales had increased to more than $20 billion, makingConAgra the nations second-largest food company.

Harper came out of retirement in 1993 to serve for three years as chair and CEO of RJR Nabisco.

Harper previously established at Notre Dame the Lou Holtz Leadership Scholarship endowment, earnings from which cover the majority of the costs of a senior at the University who exemplifies the qualities of a strong leader.

Harper currently resides inOmaha,Neb., and has four grown children – Mike Jr., Kathleen, Betsy and Carolyn.

Harpers gift is a component of the $1.5 billionSpirit of Notre Damecapital campaign. Announced last month, the campaign is the largest such endeavor in the history of Catholic higher education.

TopicID: 23448

TopicID: 2597

* Middle East: * Prospects for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians are problematic, but the international community ? and the United States in particular ? should support the recommendations of the Mitchell Committee to end the violence and start moving in a positive direction, says Notre Dame political scientist Alan Dowty in a policy brief issued by the University’s Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ. “Key to these recommendations,” he says, " are, on the Palestinian side, a clear and unequivocal renunciation of the use of violence as a tool, accompanied by actions consonant with this declaration, and from the Israeli side, a reversal of all punitive measures taken since the intifada began, together with a freeze on further settlement growth. This last point with be the most difficult, but it should now be clear that an end to settlement growth ? not just to the establishment of new settlements ? is the sine qua non for any serious future diplomacy." Professor Dowty can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-5098 or dowty.1@nd.edu The full brief is available on the Web at

* Knight Commission: * If acted upon, the recommendations released this week by the Knight Commission would do much to help colleges and universities realign the role of athletics in higher education, says David Shields , codirector of theMendelsonCenterfor Sport, Character&Culture at Notre Dame. “For the past half-century, intercollegiate athletics have drifted ever further from the educational mission of higher education,” Shields says. “Today , many athletic programs are little more than entertainment businesses loosely connected to their sponsoring schools. The Knight Commission, as it did in 1993, is serving as the conscience of intercollegiate sports and rightly calls attention to this drift. Its recommendations, if taken seriously and translated into policy, would help reconnect intercollegiate athletics to the educational missions of the institutions that sponsor them. But my fear is that many of the commission’s proposals, though modest and sensible, may be shelved due to entrenched interests. The proposals designed to reduce the influence of corporate sponsorship, for example, are likely to be met with skepticism by many athletic directors, who are always in search of increased revenue, and the corporate sponsors themselves.” Shields can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-4453 or shields.21@nd.edu

* Skin cancer: * Scientists at Notre Dame have synthesized an artificial enzyme they believe can repair sun-damaged DNA, the cause of many skin cancers. The breakthrough was reported recently inSan Diegoat a meeting of the American Chemical Society by Marco Jonas , one of a team of Notre Dame researchers led by Olaf Wiest , an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry. The research is still in its early stages and it will be at least another four months before the enzyme is tested in DNA, followed by several years of laboratory and clinical trials. However, Wiest’s team is optimistic that the enzyme will offer a way of reversing sun-induced skin damage before cancer develops. The artificial enzyme the Notre Dame researchers created is patterned after an enzyme produced by the Escherichia coli, or E.coli, bacterium. Wiest previously constructed a computer model that provided atomic details of the binding interactions of damaged DNA and DNA photolyase, the repair enzyme of E.coli. Ultraviolet radiation causes molecules called thymine dimers to form in DNA. The dimers, says Jonas, are a major cause of skin cancer. The artificial enzyme developed at Notre Dame attaches itself to the dimers and breaks them down, repairing DNA damaged by ultraviolet light before cancer develops. Skin cancer is now the most common form of cancer in theUnited States, with an estimated 1.4 million cases diagnosed annually. Professor Wiest can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-5876 or wiest.1@nd.edu .

* Germany * * : * CambridgeUniversity Press has published “Judging the Past in United Germany,” a new book by A. James McAdams , chair and professor of government and international studies at the University of Notre Dame. Based on extensive interviews inBonnandBerlinduring the 1990s, the book examines the aggressive steps taken by the Federal Republic of Germany to come to terms with the crimes and injustices of communistEast Germany. In particular, McAdams provides new insight into the criminal trials for killings at the Berlin Wall, the disqualification of administrative personnel for their connections to the secret police, parliamentary truth-telling commissions, and private property restitution. Professor McAdams can be reached for comment on German politics at (219) 631-7119 or mcadams.5@nd.edu

* Tech transfer: * Universities that jumped into the technology transfer business after passage of the 1980 Bayh-Dole act are pulling down almost $650 million a year from some 6,700 inventions created by their researchers. That amount could be higher if universities were to fine tune the process of tying ongoing inventor involvement to profits, according to research by Richard A. Jensen , professor of economics at Notre Dame. “Bayh-Dole mandated that the inventor be paid. But it’s how you pay them that makes the difference,” says Jensen, whose findings were published in American Economic Review. The vast majority of university-developed inventions require a lengthy incubation period, and have the best chances of reaching the marketplace when the inventor remains tied in through such long-term fiscal incentives as stock options. Jensen can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-9382 or Jensen.24@nd.edu

* Race relations: * A new book coauthored by Heidi Ardizzone , visiting assistant professor of American studies at Notre Dame, provides a riveting portrait of race relations and the justice system in 1920sAmerica. “Love on Trial: An American Scandal in Black and White” tells the true story of first the love and then the trial between Alice Jones, a former nanny of mixed race, and Leonard Rhinelander, a young socialite from one of New York’s wealthiest and most prominent families. The couple met in 1921 and, after a three-year romance, married against the wishes of Leonard’s father. A month after the wedding, with questions arising in the news media about Alice’s background and race, Leonard left his wife and sued for annulment, charging she had defrauded him. The trial, before an all-male, all-white jury, hinged in large part on the question of whether ? as Alice claimed ? Leonard knew she was black when he married her. But it also included myriad questions concerning status, wealth, ancestry and morality. Generating as much media and public attention as any modern scandal, the case was chronicled in stories on the front page of The New York Times nearly every day for more than a month. The authors examine in detail the multiple racial, socioeconomic, sexual and ethical issues that arose in this national scandal that rocked jazz-ageAmerica. Published this month by W.W. Norton&Company, the book was coauthored by Earl Lewis, dean of graduate studies at theUniversityofMichigan, where Ardizzone earned her master’s and doctoral degrees. Professor Ardizzone can be reached at (219) 631-4144 or ardizzone.1@nd.edu

p.

TopicID: 2521