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Senior James Reintjes named 2025 Yenching Scholar

2025-05-06T13:00:00-04:00

University of Notre Dame senior James Reintjes has been named a 2025 Yenching Scholar. He is one of 114 Yenching Scholars overall, representing 40 countries and regions around the globe. He is Notre Dame’s 12th Yenching Scholar and its 9th since 2018.

Chosen as part of a highly selective application process, Yenching Scholars participate in an interdisciplinary master’s degree program in China studies at the Yenching Academy of Peking University in Beijing, with tuition and other expenses fully covered.

Reintjes worked closely with the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) in applying for the award.

“We are grateful to be a partner university of the Yenching Academy and to send alumni to study there regularly,” said Emily Hunt, assistant director of scholarly development at CUSE. “Notre Dame alumni who complete the program have gone on to pursue a wide variety of paths, including medical school, law school, and careers in higher education and nonprofit work.

“It was a great pleasure working with James throughout the application process. James has been an active member of the Notre Dame community, receiving support and training from the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian 91��Ƶ, the Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ and the Hesburgh Libraries. We are sure James will take advantage of the wonderful opportunities available through the Yenching Academy and are excited to see what the future holds.”

Reintjes is an honors track international economics and Chinese major from the Kansas City area. He is a circulation services assistant at the Hesburgh Library and a member and treasurer of the Notre Dame Glee Club.

During his undergraduate career, he has been a research assistant to Kyle Jaros, associate professor of Global Affairs, at the Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ; Victoria Tin-bor Hui, associate professor of political science; and Santosh Kumar Gautam, associate professor of development and global health economics and director of the Sustainable Development Major within the Master of Global Affairs program, at the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian 91��Ƶ.

Reintjes was a consultant for the McDonald Center for Student Wellbeing, and he spent last summer as a Mandarin tutor in Hong Kong.

His honors economics thesis, advised by Lakshmi Iyer, professor of economics; and Victoria Barone, assistant professor of economics, explored the very timely question of whether fentanyl-related deaths affect anti-Chinese sentiment in the U.S.

As a Yenching Scholar, he will continue his research into the relationship between fentanyl-related deaths and anti-Chinese sentiment while further examining the role of anti-Chinese sentiment in U.S.-China trade relations. He will also take advantage of China’s large and diverse population and land mass to study how and why groups form.

Looking further ahead, he hopes to contribute to the ever-growing financial sectors within China through career opportunities within the various stock exchanges in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, with the long term goal of becoming a global leader in research and economic development.

"To all my friends, family, loved ones and mentors who supported me on this journey, thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Reintjes said.

For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.

Junior Cade Czarnecki named 2025 Phi Beta Kappa Key into Public Service Scholar

2025-05-05T11:00:00-04:00

University of Notre Dame junior Cade Czarnecki is among 20 recipients of a 2025 Key Into Public Service Scholarship from Phi Beta Kappa. He is Notre Dame’s fifth Key Into Public Service Scholar since the program was established in 2020.

The Key Into Public Service Scholarship highlights the wide range of opportunities for arts, humanities, natural and social science and mathematics majors to pursue careers in the public sector.

A political science and economics major from Ohio, Czarnecki worked closely with the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) at Notre Dame in applying for the award.

"It was a pleasure working with Cade on his application for this award as he had so many great accomplishments to share with reviewers,” Elise Rudt-Moorthy, associate director of national fellowships at CUSE, said. “He truly seeks to unite liberal arts students across the act of public policy through his on campus clubs like BridgeND and off campus internships."

Czarnecki is an Undergraduate Democracy Fellow, a teaching assistant and president of BridgeND, a “multi-partisan” political club. From September to December of last year, he studied and explored abroad in Greece.

Away from campus, he was an intern with the Department of Commerce and for the campaign of Judge Marilyn Zayas in Ohio. He also clerked for a law firm in Ohio. In his free time, he leads a small group of students who volunteer at Logan Center in South Bend.

Czarnecki will spend the upcoming summer working as a Poverty Research Fellow at the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunity, where he will focus on evidence-based solutions to poverty. Long term, he intends to pursue a law degree in order to translate his research experience into actionable policy change.

“I am very grateful to be selected for the Phi Beta Kappa Society Key into Public Service Scholarship. I see this award as a reflection of my dedication to building a better future for my country and its people, something I take great pride in,” Czarnecki said. “I would particularly like to thank Elise Rudt-Moorthy and Grace Song of Notre Dame’s Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement for their advice and support in the application process. Their guidance helped me reflect on how my college experience has prepared me to, in Notre Dame’s words, be a force for good in the world.”

He continued, “I look forward to attending the associated conference in Washington, D.C. this summer. I trust that this unique opportunity will further bring into focus the many routes toward careers that affect real, meaningful change in the public sphere.”

For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.

Alumnus Charles Yockey named 2025 Schwarzman Scholar

2025-05-02T11:00:00-04:00

University of Notre Dame alumnus Charles Yockey has been named a 2025 Schwarzman Scholar. He is the University’s second Schwarzman Scholar since the program was established in 2015. He is one of 150 students selected for the award from a pool of nearly 5,000 applicants.

Schwarzman Scholars participate in a one-year, fully funded master’s degree program in global affairs at Tsinghua University in China. Designed to build a global community of future leaders, the program offers an immersive learning experience dedicated to leadership development.

“We were so happy to find out that Charles had been selected as a 2025 Schwarzman Scholar,” said Jeffrey Thibert, senior director of undergraduate scholarly initiatives and the Paul and Maureen Stefanick Executive Director of the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) at Notre Dame. “One of the most rewarding aspects of working at Notre Dame is seeing our students and alumni receive these kinds of opportunities and knowing they are pursuing them not in service to themselves but in service to justice. It’s been a pleasure getting to know Charles over these past few years, and we’re looking forward to seeing how he continues to develop as a leader, both in the Schwarzman Scholars program and throughout his career.”

Yockey thanked CUSE and others.

“I am deeply grateful to the entire Notre Dame community, whose encouragement has played a crucial role in my academic and professional growth,” Yockey said. “I would especially like to thank the Program of Liberal 91��Ƶ and the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government, which have been instrumental in shaping my intellectual development. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Thibert and the CUSE team, who provided invaluable guidance and support during the Schwarzman application process.”

Yockey graduated from Notre Dame in 2023, earning a bachelor’s degree in the Program of Liberal 91��Ƶ. He minored in constitutional studies. He was a Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government Tocqueville Fellow and a member of the Notre Dame chapter of the Federalist Society. He participated in research alongside Matthew E.K. Hall, the David A. Potenziani Memorial College Professor of Constitutional 91��Ƶ, and Emilia Justyna Powell, professor of political science and concurrent professor of law.

Away from campus, he was a summer analyst for two investment firms — one in New York and one in Chicago — as well as an undergraduate intern for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Illinois. As a senior, he was presented with the Stephen Rogers Award, given annually to a Program of Liberal 91��Ƶ graduate for the purpose of graduate study.

Following his time at Notre Dame, he earned a Master of Philosophy in political thought and intellectual history from the University of Cambridge. He studied at Peterhouse, the oldest of the Cambridge colleges. His thesis explored sovereign debt remediation in historical perspective.

He currently resides in Budapest, where he works remotely as a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Legal Policy. His work focuses on antitrust, corporate governance and regulatory policy.

Additionally, he is a Budapest Fellow at the Hungary Foundation, which seeks to deepen cultural ties between Hungary and the U.S., and, in conjunction, a visiting researcher at Mathias Corvinus Collegium’s Center for International Law. He is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee, the Federalist Society, the International Institute for Strategic 91��Ƶ and the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and he sits on the board of the D’Oyly Carte Foundation.

He was named a 2025 Publius Fellow by the Claremont Institute and, in February, received the Director’s Award from the Hoover Institution for a paper on technology policy.

Looking ahead, he hopes to leverage his Schwarzman experience to promote greater Sino-American understanding and facilitate collaboration between the public and private sectors as a diplomat, lawyer or policymaker.

“The Schwarzman Scholars program offers a unique opportunity to foster mutual understanding between China and the United States, two nations whose relationship will play a pivotal role in shaping the 21st century,” Yockey said. “In today’s contentious geopolitical climate, the importance of Sino-American relations cannot be overstated. I am eager to continue my research on sovereign debt diplomacy, which I began in graduate school and have carried forward in my early career. My experience living abroad and working on policy issues will, I hope, enable me to contribute meaningfully to the 10th cohort of Schwarzman Scholars and strengthen the vital relationship between our two political communities.”

Inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship, the Schwarzman Scholarship is a highly selective, one-year master’s degree program at Tsinghua University in Beijing. It is designed to prepare the next generation of global leaders for the challenges of the future.

For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.

Vaccine scientist Teresa Lambe to deliver Graduate 91��Ƶ commencement address

2025-05-02T09:00:00-04:00

Teresa Lambe, who played a critical role in the fight against COVID-19 as a principal investigator in the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine program, will deliver the keynote address during the Graduate 91��Ƶ’s annual Commencement Ceremony on May 17 at the University of Notre Dame.

The ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. inside Notre Dame Stadium, with University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., on hand to confer the master’s and doctoral degrees.

“Dr. Lambe is a world-renowned scientist and a passionate advocate for improving global health through vaccines. Her work is an outstanding example of the impact a brilliant and determined scientific leader can have on the world,” said Michael Hildreth, associate provost and vice president of graduate studies and dean of the Graduate 91��Ƶ. “We are so pleased to welcome her as our commencement speaker. I am very much looking forward to her reflections as she helps us launch our new graduates into their futures.”

Lambe co-designed the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, led the preclinical studies and spearheaded the laboratory research required for regulatory approval. The vaccine is estimated to have saved more than 6 million lives in 2021 alone.

As Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology at the University of Oxford, Lambe currently focuses her research on developing and testing vaccines against a number of biodefense pathogens, including Ebola virus, Marburg virus disease and coronaviruses.

A passionate advocate for women in STEM fields, she has sought to support future leaders through the Teresa Lambe Bursary Fund established in her hometown of Kilcullen, Ireland.

Her scientific excellence has been recognized with numerous honors, including an honorary appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her service to sciences and public health in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honors and the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad in 2022. In 2024, she was named a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Lambe completed a joint honors bachelor’s degree in pharmacology and genetics and a doctoral degree at University College Dublin.

In addition to delivering the Graduate 91��Ƶ commencement address, Lambe will receive an honorary doctor of science degree at the 180th University University Commencement Ceremony on May 18.

“I am humbled to receive an honorary degree from such a prestigious institution and honoured to speak at the Graduate 91��Ƶ’s annual Commencement Ceremony,” Lambe said. “There is a very strong sense of purpose and mission in Notre Dame — embodied by alumni, staff and students alike. This spirit of grit, determination and compassion will serve us well as we move through life’s many adventures.”

The Graduate 91��Ƶ has also announced the following student, faculty and alumni awards for the 2024-25 academic year:

Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award: Justin Farrell, (’14 Ph.D.), professor of sociology at Yale University.

James A. Burns, C.S.C., Award: Darren T. Dochuck, professor in the Department of History and co-director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism; and Alexander Dowling, associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

Dick and Peggy Notebaert Award: Glen L. Niebur, professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and former director of the Bioengineering Graduate Program.

Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Award in Engineering: Marlee Elizabeth Shaffer, doctoral candidate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences.

Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Award in Humanities: Tegha A. Nji, doctoral candidate in the Department of Theology.

Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Award in Science: Alyssa Marie Willson, doctoral candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Award in Social Sciences: Henry Downes, doctoral candidate in the Department of Economics.

Social Justice Award: Oghenemaro Anuyah, doctoral candidate in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Junior Alex Young named 2025 Truman Scholar

2025-04-25T17:00:00-04:00

University of Notre Dame junior Alex Young has been named a 2025 Truman Scholar. He is the University’s 13th Truman Scholar since 2010, a group that includes three Rhodes Scholars: Alex Coccia (’14), Christa Grace Watkins (’17) and Prathm Juneja (’20).

Young is among 54 students from 49 U.S. colleges and universities honored with the award. The selection process is highly competitive, taking into account applicants’ academic, leadership and service records and their likelihood of success in graduate school.

"Notre Dame's Class of 2026 really blew me away this year, and I am so happy for Alex to receive the recognition he absolutely deserves,” said Elise Rudt-Moorthy, associate director of National Fellowships with the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) at Notre Dame. “Alex has demonstrated a conviction to improve critical aspects of life for Kentuckians like physical safety and civil rights, and we are lucky to have him represent our campus as a Truman Scholar."

A former Hesburgh Democracy Fellow, Young, from Kentucky, is a political science major with minors in public service and constitutional studies.

Around campus, he is co-president and co-lead of the Student Policy Network; co-president of the College Democrats; a resident counselor with Notre Dame Pre-College Programs; a columnist for the student newspaper, The Observer; and a volunteer for ND Listens. He is a former member of BridgeND, and he participated in Notre Dame RISE as a first-year student.

Away from campus, he is a member of the board of directors of the United States Alliance to End the Hitting of Children and co-founder and leader of the Sister Thea Bowman Society for Racial Justice, serving underrepresented members of the Louisville community through service and policy advocacy. He has served as an intern in the Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division since January.

Active in local, state and federal politics, he previously interned at the White House and for the Indiana Democratic Party. He also served as a political consulting and mayoral campaign associate to Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.

Truman Scholars participate in an internship and training program in Washington, D.C., the summer before graduate school. Young, a longtime advocate for persons with disabilities, will pursue work with the American Bar Association’s Commission on Disability Rights.

Looking ahead to graduate school, he plans to pursue a law degree from Georgetown Law and then return to his hometown of Louisville and serve as deputy chief of staff in the mayor’s office.

Ultimately, he plans to enter politics in order to advance health, education and civil rights in Kentucky, first as a state representative and later as a member of Congress.

“Since my initial exposure to public service in my efforts to end corporal punishment in Kentucky schools, I have come to appreciate the role I can play in improving communities throughout Kentucky and beyond,” Young said. “The incredible network and resources of the Truman Foundation will allow me to further this passion for service. I am grateful for the guidance of Elise Rudt-Moorthy, the team at CUSE, Dr. Claudia Francis, Dr. Sandra Gustafson and all of the mentors who helped me throughout this process.

“I look forward to utilizing the Truman Scholarship and my Notre Dame education in a way that decreases gun violence in Louisville, improves outcomes for Kentuckians with disabilities and promotes civil rights more broadly.”

Rudt-Moorthy thanked those involved in the award.

“Special thanks to Jeffrey Thibert, Emily Hunt, Gregory Miller, Claudia Francis, Sandra Gustafson, Jim Wayne, Chloe Gibbs, Jill Seyfred, Emily Morgan, Duncan Teater, Mike Ward, Sara Clark, Barbara Sexton Smith, Mike Schmuhl and Becca Blais for their hard work and assistance during the application process,” she said. “Members of this group reviewed for the nomination process, wrote recommendation letters for Alex, sent in thoughtful quotes for the nomination letter and served as his practice interviewers. Their time and efforts to help Alex were greatly appreciated.”

Established as a living memorial to former President Harry S. Truman, as well as a national monument to public service, The Truman Scholarship seeks to support and inspire the next generation of public services leaders.

For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.

Eight Notre Dame students, alumni awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

2025-04-23T09:00:00-04:00

Eight current or former University of Notre Dame students have been awarded National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships, with an additional 16 singled out for honorable mention for the award.

Established in 1952, the Graduate Research Fellowship Program provides financial and other support to students in NSF-backed STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) disciplines to participate in research-based master’s and doctoral degree programs at accredited institutions in the U.S.

Applicants work closely with their advisers to create compelling personal statements and research plans. Notre Dame students can also consult with experts from the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) or its counterpart, the Office of Grants and Fellowships, in the Graduate 91��Ƶ.

Jeff Thibert is the Paul and Maureen Stefanick Director of CUSE.

"On behalf of CUSE, I'd like to congratulate this year's NSF Graduate Research Fellowship recipients and honorable mentions,” Thibert said. “In a year where the number of fellowships was reduced to 1,000 from the expected number of 2,300, it is an especially significant accomplishment to be not only a recipient but also an honorable mention. It is our hope that more funds will become available to the NSF, allowing them to convert at least some of the honorable mentions to recipients.

He continued, “Thank you, as always, to the students' and alumni's mentors, and thank you especially to Emily Hunt, the CUSE assistant director of scholarly development, who works with the NSF GRFP (among other fellowships) and devotes a significant amount of time to providing advice and feedback to our applicants. We're lucky to have her on our team.”

Michael Skalski, associate program director of the Office of Grants and Fellowships, said, “The success of our students in the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship competition is a testament to their individual drive, the mentorship of their faculty advisors, the vibrant research environment fostered at Notre Dame and the collaborative support offered by resources like the Graduate 91��Ƶ's Office of Grants and Fellowships. This year, we are especially proud of and impressed by the robust number of students who received honorable mention. We celebrate the achievements of all of those recognized and look forward to their future contributions to STEM.”

The fellows are:

Undergraduate alumni

• Joseph Kelly (psychology)

• Caroline Lubbe (STEM education and learning research)

• Patrick Schwartz (engineering)

• Timothy Welch (engineering)

• Bailee Zacovic (mathematical sciences)

Graduate

• Marla Gravino (chemistry)

• Madison MacDougall (life sciences)

• Sophia Richter (life sciences)

The honorable mentions are:

Undergraduate

• Katherine Brandin (life sciences)

• Sara Murray (chemistry)

• Delaney Smith (engineering)

Undergraduate alumni

• Emma Bartley (psychology)

• Sydney Carlino (social sciences)

• Cassandra Franke (psychology)

• Nikol Garcia Espinoza (engineering)

• Lauren Hollmer (life sciences)

• Doyup Kwon (engineering)

• Quinn Mackay (geosciences)

• Michelena O’Rourke (engineering)

• Oliver Reyes (life sciences)

• Joseph Tatarka (social sciences)

Graduate

• Regina Mannino (mathematical sciences)

• Hannah O’Grady (life sciences)

• Daniel Volpi (engineering)

• Andrew Yang (computational science and engineering)

The Shirt 2025 to be unveiled April 11 at Notre Dame

2025-04-09T11:00:00-04:00

The Shirt Project will unveil The Shirt 2025 at 4:30 p.m. Friday (April 11) on the library lawn at the University of Notre Dame. In the event of rain, the event will take place at 5 p.m. at Hagerty café, on the ground floor of Duncan Student Center.

This year’s celebration will include performances from various student groups, including the marching band, glee club, cheerleading team and dance groups, among others.

Immediately afterward, The Shirt 2025 will be available for purchase on the library lawn, at Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore locations (campus and Eddy Street Commons) and online.

For those unable to attend the celebration inperson, it will be livestreamed on The Shirt Project’s YouTube Channel. News and updates will also be posted to The Shirt Project’s Instagram account.

Proceeds from all sales of The Shirt go directly to The Shirt Charity Fund, which assists students with unexpected medical expenses; student clubs and organizations; and the Office of Student Enrichment, which offers programming and resources to students with limited incomes, aiding them in having a successful Notre Dame student experience.

More than 3.5 million shirts have been sold since the project’s inception 36 years ago, making it the largest student-run fundraiser at Notre Dame.

For more information, visit theshirt.nd.edu.

Record-tying four Notre Dame students named 2025 Goldwater Scholars

2025-04-04T11:00:00-04:00

A record-tying four University of Notre Dame students have been named 2025 Goldwater Scholars in recognition of their exceptional promise as future leaders in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics.

Juniors Jacob Finley, John Howe, Thomas Reimer and Connor Smith each will receive a maximum $7,500 for tuition and other expenses for the upcoming 2025-26 academic year.

Jacob Finley

Finley, from Kentucky, is an honors track physics-in-medicine major in the College of Science. He is a research assistant to Sylwia Ptasinska, professor of physics and astronomy, in the Ptasinska Research Laboratory. He previously worked under Steven Lin, associate professor of biomedical sciences, at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He will pursue research this summer as an Amgen Scholar at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Outside of the classroom, he is a hospice volunteer. He also volunteers at a local hospital. After graduation, he plans to pursue a doctorate in physics and then work as a radiation oncology physician scientist.

John Howe

Howe, from Texas, is an electrical engineering major in the College of Engineering. A two-time NDnano Undergraduate Research Fellow, he is an assistant to Kai Ni, assistant professor of electrical engineering, in the Nanoelectronic Devices and Systems Group. He previously worked under Svetlana Neretina, professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, in the Nanomaterial Fabrication Research Laboratory. Outside of the classroom, he is a member of the Notre Dame Marching Band and the Robotic Football Club. He plans to pursue a doctorate in electrical engineering after graduation and then work as a researcher for the semiconductor industry, with a focus on memory technologies.

Thomas Reimer

Reimer, from Maryland, is an honors track chemistry major in the College of Science. He is a research assistant to Brandon Ashfeld, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, in the Ashfeld Research Group. He previously worked under Kaiya Fu, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, in the Fu Lab. A past recipient of a summer research abroad grant from the National Science Foundation and a Summer Language Abroad Grant from the Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures, he plans to pursue a doctorate in chemistry after graduation and then pursue solutions to unsolved or overlooked biological problems in the medical context as an organic chemist.

Connor Smith

Smith, from Texas, is a Glynn Family Honors Scholar and an honors track physics major in the College of Science. He is a research assistant to Justin Crepp, associate professor of physics and astronomy and director of the Engineering and Design Core Facility. He conducted research on gravitational waves with Quynh Lan Nguyen, affiliate scholar of physics and astronomy, and was a recipient of the Quazi and Shaheen Islam Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Physics and Astronomy from the College of Science. Outside of the classroom, he is a bilingual tutor with La Casa de Amistad. He also co-hosts a weekly radio program on campus. He plans to pursue a doctorate in astrophysics after graduation and then conduct astrophysical research at an observatory or national laboratory or research and teach at the university level.

In applying for the scholarship, the students worked closely with the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE), which supports the intellectual development of Notre Dame students via scholarly engagement, research, creative endeavors and the pursuit of fellowships.

Emily Hunt is assistant director of scholarly development for CUSE.

“Our success with the Goldwater Scholarship points directly to the transformative research opportunities available to Notre Dame students in the Colleges of Engineering and Science,” Hunt said. “Each one of our recipients has received guidance from dedicated faculty mentors both on campus and off. Thank you to those mentors, CUSE postdoctoral fellow Grace Song and our dedicated faculty nomination committee for supporting our applicants.”

Named for former U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, the Goldwater Scholarship seeks to foster and encourage outstanding sophomores and juniors to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics. It is the preeminent undergraduate award of its type in these particular fields.

For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.

Opponents, exonerees to take part in inaugural Death Penalty Abolition Week at Notre Dame

2025-03-21T09:00:00-04:00

Notre Dame Law 91��Ƶ will host Death Penalty Abolition Week from Monday to Thursday (March 24 to 27) at the University of Notre Dame, featuring a series of talks from exonerees and opponents of the death penalty.

Hosted by the Notre Dame Law 91��Ƶ Exoneration Justice Clinic and the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights, the four-day inaugural event aims to raise awareness of the miscarriages of justice caused by wrongful convictions, the systemic issues leading to these injustices and the complex intersection between wrongful convictions and the death penalty.

Co-sponsors include the Notre Dame chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Black Law Students Association, the Exoneration Project and the Death Penalty Abolition Society.

“To date, 200 death row inmates have been exonerated,” Jimmy Gurulé, professor of law and director of the Exoneration Justice Clinic, said. “These individuals were wrongfully convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. But for the work of innocence projects, law school clinics and pro bono lawyers, these individuals could have been tragically executed by the state for a crime they did not commit. I can’t imagine a more compelling argument for the abolition of the death penalty.”

The schedule is as follows:

Monday (March 24)

• Yusef Salaam, Central Park Five exoneree and New York City councilman, “Delayed but not Denied,” 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., Eck Hall of Law, Room 1130

At 15, Yusef Salaam was wrongfully convicted along with four others in the Central Park jogger case. The “Exonerated Five,” as they are now known, spent between seven and 15 years in prison, until their sentences were overturned in 2002. Since then, Salaam has become an advocate for criminal justice reform, the impact of mass incarceration and police brutality, and the abolition of juvenile solitary confinement and capital punishment.

He will share his personal story and discuss the impact of wrongful convictions, shedding light on the profound emotional and social toll on both individuals and their families.

Tuesday (March 25)

• Ohio death row exoneree Lamont Hunter and his attorney, Erin Barnhart, 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., Eck Hall of Law, Room 1130

Notre Dame alumna Erin Barnhart is the assistant federal public defender for the Southern District of Ohio’s Capital Habeas Unit, where she represents death row inmates in federal habeas and attends to civil rights litigation and state clemency matters. Barnhart graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame Law 91��Ƶ in 2005, where she was an editor of the Notre Dame Law Review and earned the Farabaugh Prize for High Scholarship in Law.

Lamont Hunter spent nearly 18 years on Ohio’s death row. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2007 on charges related to the death of his 3-year-old son, Trustin, who suffered fatal injuries after accidentally falling down the stairs.

During habeas proceedings, defense counsel discovered exonerating evidence, and Hunter was granted a motion for a new trial. To obtain his freedom, he pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to time served. Since his release in 2023, he has been rebuilding and reconnecting with his family and community while sharing his story of wrongful incarceration and insight into the U.S. criminal legal system.

Hunter will discuss his journey from wrongful conviction to freedom, while Barnhart will highlight the critical role of legal advocacy in challenging injustice and securing fair outcomes.

Wednesday (March 26)

• Syl Schieber, “When the Death Penalty Gets Personal,” 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., McCartan Courtroom, Eck Hall of Law

Notre Dame alumnus Syl Schieber became a staunch opponent of the death penalty after his daughter, Shannon, was murdered in 1998. When Philadelphia’s district attorney announced her intent to seek the death penalty for the murderer, Schieber and his wife, Vicki, led a successful campaign against pursuing capital punishment in the case.

Schieber’s opposition to the death penalty has been deeply motivated by his Catholic faith and belief in the sanctity of human life.

Schieber, who holds a doctor of philosophy in economics from Notre Dame, will recount his personal journey and reflect on the decades of tireless advocacy that he and his wife have championed to abolish the death penalty in the United States.

Thursday (March 27)

• Sister Helen Prejean, “The Sanctity of Life,” 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., McCartan Courtroom, Eck Hall of Law

Sister Helen Prejean, a leading voice for the abolition of the death penalty, has dedicated her life to advocating for human dignity. After witnessing multiple executions, she became a fierce critic of capital punishment. Her book, “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States,” exposed the brutal realities of capital punishment and sparked a nationwide movement.

Over the decades, Sister Prejean appealed to two popes, John Paul II and Francis, urging the Catholic Church to oppose the death penalty unequivocally. Following their meeting in August 2018, Pope Francis announced new language in the Catholic Catechism declaring the death penalty inadmissible as an attack on human dignity.

Sister Prejean will share her journey of faith and activism, discussing the impact of her work in the fight to end the death penalty.

Seating for the talks is limited. Advanced registration is available here.

Brandon E. Roach appointed vice president and Robert K. Johnson General Counsel

2025-03-20T12:00:00-04:00

University of Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., announced that Brandon E. Roach has been appointed vice president and Robert K. Johnson General Counsel effective June 1. Roach’s appointment follows an extensive national search.

A Notre Dame alumnus, Roach succeeds Marianne Corr, who has served in the role since 2008. In fall 2024, Corr announced her plans to retire at the end of the academic year.

Roach currently serves as executive associate general counsel for the University, a position he has held since 2023. He joined the Office of General Counsel as an assistant general counsel in 2010, and prior to that, served as senior adviser to the University’s provost.

In his current role, he serves as the principal attorney for the Office of the Provost, the Athletics Department and the Department of Development, handling a wide range of issues including those related to academic policy and governance, strategic initiatives, major commercial and charitable transactions, employment matters, athletic affairs and litigation management.

He also advises University leaders on statutory, regulatory and legislative issues.

“I am deeply grateful to the search committee comprised of Trustees and University leaders that helped me identify Brandon as the best possible choice for this critical role from among a terrific pool of candidates. His breadth of legal experience, understanding of the higher education landscape and deep knowledge of Notre Dame make him ideally suited to serve as our next vice president and general counsel,” Father Dowd said. “A gifted and visionary leader who is deeply committed to Notre Dame’s mission, he will be an invaluable adviser to me, to our Board of Trustees and to the senior leadership of the University. I look forward to working closely with Brandon in this new role.”

Roach, for his part, expressed gratitude for the opportunity.

“Higher education faces a period of profound challenge and change, but with that also comes tremendous opportunity,” Roach said. “Notre Dame will thrive in this transformational era by being true to its distinctive mission while simultaneously bringing its strengths and uniqueness to bear on the pressing questions of our times.”

“With humility and deep gratitude to Father Dowd and the University for the privilege and responsibility of serving as general counsel, I look forward to joining with him and the entire Notre Dame family in the important work of being a force for good in our world."

He continued, “With humility and deep gratitude to Father Dowd and the University for the privilege and responsibility of serving as general counsel, I look forward to joining with him and the entire Notre Dame family in the important work of being a force for good in our world. I am also indebted to Marianne Corr for her example and legacy, and the strength of the foundation she has established for the Office of General Counsel’s future.”

Roach studied government and sociology at Notre Dame, graduating summa cum laude in 1999. He earned his law degree from Yale Law 91��Ƶ, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and a member of its admissions committee. He clerked for Judge Julia Smith Gibbons of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, from 2003 to 2004, and later worked as an associate in the appellate group of a major Houston law firm.

He has served in critical roles with multiple leadership teams since returning to Notre Dame.

As senior adviser to the provost, he coordinated strategic academic initiatives in collaboration with associate provosts, deans, department chairs and other stakeholders and advised the provost on the development of academic and University policy. He also staffed the Academic Affairs committee of the Board of Trustees.

As associate and later executive associate general counsel, he designed and implemented the University’s compliance framework and offered support to Development and Athletics during significant periods of transition and growth. He also served as co-chair of the External Engagement Strategic Advisory Committee as part of the University’s strategic framework planning initiative.

Roach was born and raised in Louisiana. His wife, Clare, earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Notre Dame, the latter as a graduate teaching fellow with the University’s Alliance for Catholic Education. She currently serves as associate director of the Notre Dame Robinson Community Learning Center. They have four children together: Jeremiah, a third-year college student; Jude, a first-year college student; Marie, a high school junior; and Daniel, a 7th grader.

The Office of General Counsel provides comprehensive legal services and strategic counsel in support of the University’s mission and operations. For more information, visit generalcounsel.nd.edu.

Contact: Erin Blasko, associate director of media relations, 574-631-4127, eblasko@nd.edu

More than 1,000 local students participate in Building Trades Day at Notre Dame

2025-03-10T15:00:00-04:00

The University of Notre Dame, in partnership with the Michiana Area Construction Industry Advancement Fund, St. Joseph Valley Building Trades, South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce and Greater Niles Chamber of Commerce, hosted Building Trades Day on Friday (March 7) at Stepan Center on campus.

First held in 2023, Building Trades Day offers area high school students the opportunity to explore career pathways in the trades through conversations and hands-on activities with contractors and tradespeople and tours of active construction sites.

Nearly 1,100 students participated in the daylong event, along with nearly 80 local contractors, trades organizations and training partners, including Amazon Web Services, Ivy Tech Community College, Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County and Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union 172, among others.

Led by the Facilities Design and Operations team within the Office of the Executive Vice President, the students toured three active construction sites on campus in various stages of completion: the Jack and Kathy Shields Family Hall (the new football facility), the Southeast Campus Geothermal Plant and the two new residence halls on the southwest side of campus.

Students tour a construction site on campus as part of Building Trades Day at the University of Notre Dame. (Photo by Michael Caterina/University of Notre Dame)

The construction industry has been hampered by a labor shortage, with the supply of new tradespeople failing to keep up with demand — particularly in the wake of new federal investments in infrastructure and technology.

In response to this, Building Trades Day seeks to elevate the public perception of the trades and the valuable role tradespeople and the construction industry play in the economic growth of the region, state and country.

Anthony Polotto is the senior director of construction and quality assurance at Notre Dame.

“I’m really happy about the turnout,” Polotto said. “Essentially, what we have is our entire contracting industry is here today. A lot of hands-on activities. Let students install some stuff; install some slate and copper, weld some pipe, do some virtual reality to let people know what construction is really like in this day and age.”

Adriel Younger participated in the event from Niles High 91��Ƶ, where he is part of the school’s career and technical education program. A senior, he is working on his welding certification with a career in the trades in mind.

“It’s a really good event,” Younger said. “It’s helpful for students to further expand their knowledge on what the (trades) actually have to offer them, and what kinds of jobs they can do.”

He said he would recommend the event to others his age.

“If you get this opportunity, definitely take advantage of it,” he said. “It will definitely help you in the long run.”

Contact: Erin Blasko, associate director of media relations, 574-631-4127, eblasko@nd.edu

Award-winning actor, Mishawaka native Adam Driver visits with Notre Dame, Robinson Center students

2025-03-07T15:31:00-05:00

Actor Adam Driver visits with students at the Robinson Community Learning Center on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

The Robinson Community Learning Center (RCLC) welcomed a special visitor Wednesday (March 5): award-winning actor Adam Driver. Driver’s many film credits include Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” Spike Lee’s “BlacKKKlansman,” Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel,” Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” and Francis Ford Coppola’s recent “Megalopolis,” to name a few. He is widely known for his role as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Driver, who grew up in nearby Mishawaka, participated in a discussion about acting with members of the RCLC’s youth theater program, which offers lessons to area students in grades three through 12.

Held in the RCLC’s black box theater, the informal discussion was part of a daylong visit to the area for the Marine Corps veteran, who as a screen and stage actor is known for his versatility, physicality and emotional depth.

In addition to visiting the RCLC, Driver also visited with Notre Dame Film, Television and Theater students, met with military veteran students on campus and visited with drama students at his alma mater, Mishawaka High 91��Ƶ.

During his visit to the RCLC, Driver, who has garnered award nominations for his on- and off-Broadway roles, watched as students took turns reading from the Hamlet soliloquy “To be, or not to be,” nodding and grinning throughout and clapping with appreciation afterward.

“Do you guys like it, does it make sense to you?” he asked of the famous Shakespearean monologue, in which the eponymous prince contemplates death and suicide.

“I’m pretty sure it’s about — he’s debating what the point of living is and — and if sleeping and death would be the same,” one of the students said.

“And the only reason we don’t embrace death is because we don’t know what happens after death,” said another.

“Exactly right,” Driver said. “You guys totally understand.”

He also talked about his formative years as a drama student at Mishawaka High 91��Ƶ, where he first fell in love with the stage.

A student holds up an autograph from the actor Adam Driver on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, at the Robinson Community Learning Center. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

“High school was when I got excited about acting. … It felt like we could do whatever we wanted,” he said. “I liked misbehaving on stage, and I liked doing plays with my friends.”

At the same time, the Juilliard-trained actor underscored the importance of a formal education.

“Going to school was a big thing, because I didn’t know anything about acting,” he said. “I didn’t know a lot of plays, I didn’t have a way of working, I didn’t have a process. So going to school for four years to kind of develop a way to work was really helpful.”

In fact, he said, it was at Juilliard that he first studied Shakespeare.

“You guys know more Shakespeare than I did at your age,” he said.

Jennifer Jermano Miller is the theater and fine arts program director at the RCLC.

“I’m glad he spoke a little bit about his journey, because I think that’s really important for students to hear,” Jermano Miller said. “And I really love that he told the students that school is so important.”

Pointing to his modest upbringing far from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood, Driver, for his part, talked about feeling responsible — especially as he ages and grows professionally — for uplifting young and aspiring actors from similar backgrounds.

“I didn’t have anyone in the business. No one in my family was in the business; we didn’t have any access,” he said. “So especially in smaller towns, where it doesn’t feel like being an actor is a real possibility, if you can give someone a small push to pursue the arts, I think that’s important.”

Driver’s visit lasted about 45 minutes and included photos and autographs.

Earlier in the day, he discussed the art and business of acting as part of a panel discussion and Q&A with a group of about 40 students and faculty at the Philbin Studio Theatre in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center on campus.

Seated between Chris Becker, associate professor of television, and Siiri Scott, head of acting and directing, he talked about choosing roles; the auditioning process; working with agents, lawyers and casting directors; the impact of streaming on the film industry; and navigating success.

About the modern motion picture viewing experience, he acknowledged the convenience of streaming but expressed a personal preference for the familiar comfort of a crowded theater.

Actor Adam Driver speaks to Film, Television and Theater students on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

“I still have faith in theater. That’s how I love to see films,” he said. “There’s nothing better than being in a room with a group of people watching a film.”

Driver’s visit was particularly special for Mason Kacmar, an FTT major from Cleveland.

The junior transfer student from the University of Southern California was an extra in “White Noise,” director Noah Baumbach’s absurdist drama starring Driver as a middling liberal arts professor with an irrational fear of death, alongside Greta Gerwig and Don Cheadle.

The movie, an adaptation of a Don DeLillo novel, filmed in Cleveland in 2021. Kacmar was in two scenes with Driver — one in a grocery store and one on the campus of the fictional College-on-the-Hill.

During the Q&A, Kacmar asked Driver what it was like to film so close to home.

“I definitely like shooting closer to home because of my family,” he said, noting that the crews are different in the Midwest compared with the coasts and especially Europe just “based on the culture.”

“Thank you,” Kacmar said.

“Yeah, well, good to see you,” Driver quipped, eliciting laughter from the students.

Driver’s visit was a complete surprise for the students, and when he entered the group broke into stunned applause. Kacmar, for his part, exclaimed loudly, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!”

“It was really surreal seeing that it was him,” he said afterward. “I had no idea coming into this experience that it was going to be Adam Driver. And the fact that I actually got to be an extra in a film that he has done in my hometown of Cleveland was super special.”

Kacmar described Driver, who sat casually, legs crossed, nodding, gesturing and laughing throughout the discussion, as “really grounded.”

“We all have our idea of what famous celebrities or actors are going to be like, but he just seemed like a chill guy that just wanted to talk with us. So I was just super grateful to have the experience,” he said.

Film, Television and Theater students react to a surprise visit from the actor Adam Driver on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

He said the opportunity to learn from someone as accomplished as Driver underscored the quality of the FTT program, which offers a unique mix of design and production, writing and performance, and history and theory.

“It continues to showcase Notre Dame’s alumni connections and just the way that their ability to network is top-notch, and that’s one of the reasons why I came here,” he said.

Driver took questions from about a dozen students during the 90-minute discussion, responding to each query with warmth and candor.

“The session felt like hanging out in an intimate masterclass,” Becker said. “The way he listened intently and responded to each student’s question showed just how genuine and down-to-earth he is.”

"Adam was incredibly generous and open with our students, offering insights that not only inspired them but also reinforced the very practices we teach," said Scott. "It was a great reminder that the work we do in the classroom will help prepare them for the profession."

Driver met privately with veteran students later in the day, following his RCLC visit.

He and his wife, Joanne Tucker, formed Arts in the Armed Forces in 2006. Although the organization is no longer active, he still believes in honoring and enriching the lives of military members through strategic outreach and shared experiences in film and theater.

“There’s not a lot of systems in place where people can process their time being in the military,” he said. “So, for me, the arts was a massive way of kind of transitioning back into civilian life, because even though it seems polar opposite from the military, the process is very similar. It’s all about responding without thinking and working within a small group of people to accomplish something bigger than anyone’s particular role.”

Driver’s visit was organized by Notre Dame’s Office of Public Affairs, Department of Film, Television and Theater, Office of Military and Veterans Affairs and DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

Notre Dame a top producer of Fulbright students for 11th straight year

2025-03-05T09:00:00-05:00

The University of Notre Dame is a top producer of Fulbright students for the 11th consecutive year, according to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which administers the Fulbright Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State.

Thirty-four Notre Dame students, including 26 undergraduate students and eight graduate students, were awarded Fulbright Scholarships for the 2024-25 academic year, tied for fourth among doctoral institutions in the U.S.

Notre Dame has been a top producer of Fulbright students 12 times since the 2009-10 academic year. Full results are available online at the Chronicle of Higher Education.

“This year’s Fulbright English Teaching Assistant process was an absolute joy for myself and my colleague, Mathilda Nassar,” said Elise Rudt-Moorthy, associate director of national fellowships with Notre Dame’s Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement. “Every applicant was dedicated and highly qualified to teach English and U.S. culture abroad. We could not have done it without the support of 25 alumni who acted as mentors to our applicants towards the end of the process.”

Mary Ann McDowell, professor of biology and associate dean for professional development with the Graduate 91��Ƶ, said, “The ongoing success of Notre Dame students receiving Fulbright awards is a testament to their exceptional talent and commitment to making a positive impact. I am deeply grateful to the outstanding staff at the Graduate 91��Ƶ’s Office of Grants and Fellowships and the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement for their exceptional support, guiding our students through the Fulbright application process.”

Established in 1964, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the U.S. government’s flagship educational and cultural exchange program, offering students the opportunity to study, teach or pursue research or other projects abroad.

For more information on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu (undergraduate students) or graduateschool.nd.edu/graduate-training/research-communication/the-office-of-grants-and-fellowships/ (graduate students).

Senior Emma Powers named 2025 Gates Cambridge Scholar

2025-02-28T11:00:00-05:00

University of Notre Dame senior Emma Powers will study oncology at the University of Cambridge this fall as a Gates Cambridge Scholar.

Powers is an honors biochemistry major with a minor in data science. She is a Sorin Scholar through the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) and a past recipient of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and its STEM Supplemental Award, and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship.

As a Gates Cambridge Scholar, Powers will pursue a master of philosophy in medical science (oncology) under Rebecca Fitzgerald, professor of cancer prevention and director of the Early Cancer Institute at Cambridge. Specifically, she will study the molecular pathways of hereditary diffuse gastric cancer to better understand how to slow or prevent the disease.

In the long term, Powers intends to pursue a doctorate in cancer biology, with the goal of becoming a principal scientist and developing oncology therapies and advancing current treatments in the clinical trial pathway.

“We have had the pleasure of working with Emma since her sophomore year when she joined the Sorin Scholars program at CUSE,” said Emily Hunt, assistant director of scholarly development at CUSE. “Watching her develop and grow as she tirelessly pursued her mission of developing new and better cancer treatments to ultimately save lives and reduce suffering has been a great joy. We are very proud of her and look forward to seeing what she accomplishes over the coming years.”

Said Powers, “I am eternally grateful for all of the support I received at Notre Dame. My professors, advisers and peers encouraged me to be the best version of myself, and they helped me achieve dreams I never knew were possible. I would especially like to thank Emily Hunt and all of the CUSE staff for their continued guidance over these four years and in this application. Because of my time as a biochemistry major at Notre Dame, I feel well equipped and prepared to make strides in oncology research and be a force for good in the world.”

A native of Minnesota, Powers is a student manager for the Notre Dame women’s volleyball team, an industry experiences lead for the STEM Pre-Grad Club and a President’s Circle Mentee.

Since 2022, she has worked alongside Laurie Littlepage, the Campbell Family Associate Professor of Cancer Research at Notre Dame, in the Littlepage Lab, which is part of the Harper Cancer Research Institute. She has also worked as an undergraduate research fellow at the Mayo Clinic and as a genomic research assistant with Pfizer. As a study abroad student, she researched metaplastic breast cancer at the University of Galway in Ireland.

For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.

Fighting for Ukraine’s future: For Khrystyna Kozak, peace studies offers a path to justice for Ukrainians, herself included

2025-02-27T13:00:00-05:00

Khrystyna Kozak, a graduate student in peace studies, poses for a portrait in Jenkins and Nanovic Halls. Kozak, who is from Ukraine, spent the fall 2024 semester working for the Register of Damage for Ukraine in The Netherlands. (Photo by Michael Caterina/University of Notre Dame)

Khrystyna Kozak, a human rights lawyer specializing in displacement, was working for a nongovernmental humanitarian organization in Kyiv, Ukraine, on the morning of Feb. 24, 2022, when Russian forces invaded the country from multiple directions, sparking a brutal war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and deepened geopolitical fault lines around the globe.

Three years later, Kozak is now at the University of Notre Dame, where she is pursuing a Master of Global Affairs with a concentration in international peace studies from the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. Following a recent stint in The Hague, she is working to hold Russia accountable for its actions.

As part of the requirement for peace studies students, Kozak recently completed a six-month internship in the Dutch city with the Register of Damage for Ukraine — an effort on the part of dozens of nations to account for recorded instances of damage, loss and injury from the ongoing conflict.

For Kozak, who was born and raised in Ukraine and whose family and friends still live there, it was a deeply personal undertaking, a way of helping to preserve the future of Ukraine without actually picking up arms.

“It is a coping mechanism,” Kozak said by video conference from the Netherlands in October. She has since returned to Notre Dame to finish her degree program. “I only want to work for the cause of Ukraine.”

Kozak in the Netherlands. (Image provided)

As one of a handful of Ukrainians working for the register, Kozak was responsible for screening and evaluating claims and evidence submitted via Diia, a government-backed app that she and other Ukrainians use for a variety of state-sponsored functions.

“I’m super happy, but the work is super intense,” Kozak said, comparing it to her time in corporate law, but with the added stress of war.

Still, she considers herself “super privileged” because, as a woman, she can travel outside of Ukraine with relative ease. Men, including her husband, a lawyer in Kyiv, must remain in the country under a mobilization order designed to bolster the military. Kozak noted that, with few exceptions, men ages 18 to 60 qualify for military service. “Even my father, who is 59, cannot easily cross the border.”

Like most Ukrainians, Kozak views the war in existential terms.

“It’s not a war about territory,” she said. “We’re fighting for our identity, for our right to live in our own country, to speak our own language, to not switch to Russian.”

Where does the field of peace studies fit into that equation?

It’s a good question, Kozak said, and one she gets a lot.

“I think a lot of people are super skeptical of what I’m studying,” she said.

Still, she is of the mind that an understanding of violence and its root causes is fundamental to resolving the current conflict in a way that guarantees a measure of justice for Ukraine and its people.

A ledger of loss

Established by the Council of Europe in 2023, the Register of Damage is charged with accounting for recorded instances of torture, inhumane treatment and sexual violence, vast destruction of residential buildings and critical infrastructure, immense economic losses and other ill effects of Russia’s aggression. The organization’s work is a first step toward justice and compensation for Ukraine and its people.

Under its narrow mandate from the Council of Europe, the register receives claims, Kozak said, but it does not award compensation. For that, a separate claims commission will need to be established.

Clemens Sedmak

“The role model for the claims commission primarily is the United Nations Compensation Commission, which was established by the Security Council when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991,” Kozak said. In that case, she said, Iraq paid full compensation to Kuwait and its citizens.

The UN also established a register of damage related to the construction of the wall in occupied Palestinian territory. No compensation has been paid in that case.

Still, the simple act of acknowledging the physical damage wrought by conflict is important on its own, said Clemens Sedmak, professor of social ethics and director of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ.

He framed the issue in three dimensions.

“One is, you want to do something, and since you cannot stop the war or force reparations, documentation is a kind of agency you can exercise,” he said.

Secondly, he said, “It’s a matter of honoring what is happening and remembering that memory is a very strong force — and a very strong political force.”

Finally, “Once you have documentation and the war ends, and it has to end at some point, you can use that to try to get something (in exchange for) the damage in terms of compensation, reparations, restoration,” he said.

Common perspectives

Kozak’s work with the Register of Damage was part of the internship portion of her peace studies concentration — a cornerstone of the concentration (since upgraded to a major) that gives students the opportunity to think in new ways about theories they have learned in the classroom and to consider the challenges raised by practical situations they encounter on the ground.

As part of the Keough 91��Ƶ, the peace studies major within the Master of Global Affairs program is administered by the Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ, a leading center for the study of violent conflict and strategies for sustainable peace.

Norbert Koppensteiner is the director of the major.

Norbert Koppensteiner

“Peace studies looks at some of the complex issues around questions of war, of violence, of conflict and then, also, how to achieve long-term, sustainable solutions” to conflict, said Koppensteiner, an associate teaching professor of peace studies. “So questions like social justice, questions like reconciliation, questions like peace processes that happen either before, after or during the hot phase of a conflict — all of these are crucial topics for peace studies.”

Unsurprisingly, Koppensteiner said, the major tends to attract students from conflict areas, students with previous experience in peacebuilding or related topics and with a real stake in the subject.

“Of course what’s going on in Ukraine at the moment really is something that, at least in the European context, we haven’t seen in quite some time — two national armies clashing, one country really invading another country,” he said. “On all levels, it is absolutely concerning and traumatic, and of course this also reflects in Khrystyna’s personal experiences and biography and commitment toward ending the suffering. In that sense, it’s a very unique situation.”

On the other hand, Koppensteiner said, “Many of our students come from conflict areas. There always is a very personal reason why people end up in peace and conflict work and where this motivation to make peace in the world comes from. So, we also have in our cohort students from Afghanistan, from Uganda, from very often Burundi or the Congo, really from some of the hot conflict areas in the world. This is what brings people here.”

It’s also what makes the “richness” of the peace studies space so profound, he said.

“When you are fighting as the Ukrainian population is fighting ... the idea of compromise is not very appealing ... But peacebuilding almost always requires some type of compromise. After all, you don’t make peace with your friends; you make peace with your enemies.”

“Everybody comes with their own background, everybody comes with their own story, so students in the end learn more from each other than they ever could in the classroom,” he said.

That counts for Kozak as much as anyone, he said.

“I have a lot of respect for how she articulates the situation (in Ukraine), how she helps others, including myself, understand what’s happening, and how she’s just committed to the cause,” he said.

Said Kozak, “I’m always trying to present the case for Ukraine and share what’s going on there with my classmates.”

From a programmatic perspective, Koppensteiner described the peace studies major as “unique” because of its dual focus on theory and practice.

“It’s really something that sets us apart,” he said. “We want to give our students the opportunity to work in a new context, directly with an organization. Get firsthand experience on the one hand and then, also, have the possibility parallel to that to really do on-site research for their capstone projects and build out their networks with international organizations.”

‘Many of my friends have already died’

Now 28, Kozak has been in or around conflict nearly half of her life.

She was a teenager studying law at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, leading to wider conflict with Russia in the nearby Donbas.

She graduated from Taras Shevchenko in 2017, and then enrolled in Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), where she earned her master’s degree in law.

Following a stint as a human rights lawyer, Kozak was working as a legal consultant for the Norwegian Refugee Council in 2022 when Russia invaded.

Wanting to assist directly with humanitarian efforts once the war was underway, she joined the UN in June 2022, first as a program policy officer with the World Food Program and then as a national development officer with the UN Refugee Agency.

Damaged buildings in Ukraine.

All the while, she kept thinking about ways to broaden her understanding of transitional justice, to move beyond a mere legal framework and toward a more holistic approach to conflict resolution in complex and dynamic environments such as Ukraine.

Ultimately, this led her 5,000 miles across the ocean to Notre Dame, which maintains close ties to Ukraine through UCU, a longstanding partner in academic, religious and cultural collaboration and exchange.

Encouraged by Svitlana Khyliuk, director of the UCU law school and a former visiting fellow at Notre Dame, Kozak applied to the master of global affairs program in December 2022 and was accepted the following March, despite difficulties navigating the application process due to ongoing missile strikes and associated power and internet outages in Kyiv.

She arrived in South Bend that August, just as the combined number of Russian and Ukrainian troop deaths and injuries was nearing a grim milestone: 500,000.

Today, that number stands at nearly 1 million by some estimates.

And that’s just the military toll.

According to the United Nations, since the start of the invasion, more than 42,000 civilians have been killed or injured, including thousands of women and children — though that’s likely an undercount. Millions of homes and buildings have been destroyed. Roads and highways have been bulldozed and bombed. Access to food and shelter is scarce. The same goes for electricity. Russian soldiers routinely torture and execute civilians.

People outside the train station in Lviv, Ukraine, in March 2022.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, about a third of Ukrainians have fled the fighting, with about 3.7 million displaced within the country and another 6.9 million living abroad — the largest population displacement in Europe since World War II.

Like nearly all Ukrainians, Kozak has lost friends in the war.

“Almost all of my friends are serving, and many of my friends have already died,” she said.

Amid such sacrifice, and with support for the war flagging in the West, increasing numbers of Ukrainians favor a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible, according to recent polling from Gallup.

Still, large numbers of Ukrainians chafe at the notion, viewing it as an affront to those who have sacrificed so much for the country, who have served and in many cases died defending its democratic freedoms, its territorial sovereignty, its very existence.

This is understandable, Koppensteiner said.

“When you are fighting as the Ukrainian population is fighting at the moment, the idea of compromise is not very appealing. But at the same time, we have to recognize, taking a step back and looking at it a bit from a distance, that peacebuilding almost always requires some type of compromise,” he said. “Oftentimes, neither side completely gets what they want, and reconciliation involves coming to grips with that. After all, you don’t make peace with your friends; you make peace with your enemies.”

‘So much to do’

Now back in the United States, Kozak is working on her capstone project in peace studies, drawing on her experience with the Register of Damage and her own research. She spent a portion of her time in The Hague exploring the history of truth-seeking and documentation as a form of justice, leading her to critically examine the distinction between truth-seeking and truth-telling. This, in turn, has led her to question why institutions prioritize one mandate over the other, and whether these mandates have the potential to be combined.

The Right Reverend Borys Gudziak, Archeparch of Philadelphia, chats with University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., on the campus of Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv, Ukraine, in June 2019. Archbishop Gudziak, a former rector of UCU, was named the 2019 recipient of the Notre Dame Award. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

As a result, she said, her research “has evolved to focus on the question: Should the Register of Damages for Ukraine contribute to or even transform into a truth-telling and memory project/body alongside its documentation mandate? And if so, when would be the appropriate time for it to do so?”

In addition to completing her capstone project, she is preparing for an upcoming conference — the first of its kind at Notre Dame — dedicated to the ethics and politics of hope in contemporary Ukraine. A collaboration between the Nanovic Institute and UCU, the 2025 Ukrainian studies conference will take place in early March and explore the theme “Revolutions of Hope: Resilience and Recovery in Ukraine.” One of Kozak’s roles at the conference will be serving on a panel titled “Culture War: Soft Power, Memory and Identity in the Fight for Ukraine.”

The conference will mark the inauguration of the Ukrainian 91��Ƶ Hub at Notre Dame, a campus-wide initiative aimed at bringing together scholars and students focused on Ukraine from a variety of disciplines — from anthropology and political science to Ukrainian language, history, religion and culture, among other fields.

“I am extremely proud that Notre Dame has launched the Ukrainian 91��Ƶ Hub and organized this conference with such high-level speakers to draw attention to Ukraine,” Kozak said. “For a long time, Ukraine has been understudied or grouped together with Russia within traditional Russian-German departments worldwide, often through a colonial lens. This conference is an important step toward giving a platform to voices that, for centuries, lacked the opportunity to narrate their own stories independently. It’s a vital moment for Ukraine to take its rightful place in global academic and cultural discourse.”

Graduates wave Ukrainian flags in tribute to Archbishop Borys Gudziak as he receives an honorary degree at the 2022 Commencement ceremony. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

In addition to the Nanovic Institute and UCU, co-sponsors of the conference include the Kroc Institute, the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative, Notre Dame Global, the Office of the President, the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, the Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ, and the Department of German, Slavic and Eurasian 91��Ƶ.

“The conference will be valuable in itself as a conference because it brings people together, but it should also have an afterlife,” Sedmak said. “And the afterlife will not only be publications — we’re interested in that, of course — but it will be the connections that we can use as we build up our Ukrainian studies.”

Through the participation of Ukrainians themselves, it will also help to put a face on the conflict.

“A person like Khrystyna will remind us: This is not an impartial, low-stakes kind of situation,” Sedmak said. “We are talking about human lives; we are talking about the destruction of homes. And having a witness who is very close to what’s happening on the ground, a person who is emotionally involved and has this very deep existential commitment (to Ukraine) gives both the conference and our aspirations for the Ukrainian 91��Ƶ Hub the credibility and depth that we need.”

Looking ahead, Kozak hopes to return to the Register of Damage and, ultimately, to Ukraine as well.

“There is so much to do in Ukraine, even to rebuild it,” she said. “I will spend my whole life (contributing to the cause of Ukraine) and not even contribute 1 percent because the scale of destruction is so much.”

Notre Dame named America’s Best Large Employer by Forbes

2025-02-14T11:54:00-05:00

Forbes has named the University of Notre Dame as America’s Best Large Employer for the first time, leading 700 other organizations with at least 5,000 employees.

Notre Dame has appeared on the Best Large Employer list six times, most recently as the 20th-ranked employer and top educational institution in 2024.

“We are deeply grateful to everyone who works at Notre Dame for their invaluable contributions to our mission,” said University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. “Our accomplished and dedicated employees are our most valuable asset, and it is because of their efforts that the University is receiving this wonderful recognition.”

“Being recognized as a Forbes top employer is a testament to the culture of care, belonging and excellence that defines our Notre Dame community,” Heather Christophersen, vice president for Notre Dame Human Resources, said. “We strive to create a workplace where every person feels valued, supported and empowered to make a difference both in their own life and in the world.”

Over the past three years, Notre Dame has expanded its employee wellness center; enriched its emotional well-being, caregiving and education benefits for employees; and announced the addition of a new on-campus child care facility.

Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to compile this year’s list, based primarily on anonymous survey responses from current and former employees.

Survey respondents were asked if they would recommend their employer to others and to rate their employer based on a range of criteria, including salary, work environment, training programs and opportunities to advance.

The responses were tallied and analyzed along with additional survey data from the past three years to account for fluctuations in the data, with more recent data and evaluations from current employees weighted more heavily than others.

Forbes has been ranking America’s Best Large Employers for 10 years. It also ranks the best mid-size employers.

To explore Notre Dame career opportunities, visit jobs.nd.edu.

Lilly Endowment grant supports expansion of Robinson Center’s Talk With Your Baby program

2025-01-16T11:00:00-05:00

Notre Dame senior Lydia Liang works with a pair of preschoolers at the Robinson Community Learning Center in South Bend. (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

The University of Notre Dame has received a $3.7 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. in support of the Robinson Community Learning Center (RCLC) and its Talk With Your Baby program.

The grant will be used to scale and expand the parent education program based on four key objectives:

• Expand the existing parent curriculum from a single module of eight lessons to four modules with a total of 32 lessons delivered in English and Spanish.

• Develop a parallel curriculum specifically for early care providers and those responsible for preparing and licensing early care providers in both English and Spanish.

• Grow the program regionally through expansion into neighboring Elkhart, Marshall and La Porte counties, and across the state through the early care provider program.

• Develop a robust online platform to complement in-person learning.

The lump-sum grant is the largest ever awarded to the RCLC, significantly enhancing its capacity for community outreach within the context of the University’s strategic framework.

“We are deeply grateful for Lilly Endowment’s support of the Robinson Community Learning Center’s Talk With Your Baby program to promote language development for our youngest neighbors,” said Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. “We know that investing in early childhood programs can have a profound impact on children’s future learning outcomes. We are delighted to collaborate with local partners to expand access to these critically important resources.”

Managed by the RCLC since 2013, Talk With Your Baby educates parents and caregivers on the importance of frequent interaction with children through talking, reading and singing from birth to age 3.

91��Ƶ increasingly underscore the importance of such interactions for bonding, brain structure and function, language development, reading readiness and social and emotional development.

“From the outset, the RCLC has been committed to preK-12 and parent education as part of a holistic approach to early childhood development ... This commitment is part of a broader focus on the entire South Bend-Elkhart region, and is only possible through the generous support of individuals and organizations like Lilly Endowment and Early Learning Indiana.”

Classes cover a variety of topics and tips for new and expecting parents and are available in both English and Spanish.

“Thanks to Lilly Endowment’s ongoing support, the Talk With Your Baby program can expand its vitally important work of bolstering language development in young children,” said Susan Devetski, director of the RCLC. “Adults interacting meaningfully with young children promotes the development of essential language skills, nurtures social and emotional development and puts young children on the path to success in school. This grant will allow us to give more parents and caregivers in the South Bend-Elkhart area and beyond a playbook that they can use with their children to develop their young brains.”

This is the second major grant for Talk With Your Baby in as many years.

In 2023, Early Learning Indiana, with support from Lilly Endowment, awarded $500,000 to the RCLC to expand the program in partnership with the city of South Bend and other local stakeholders.

The grant, which was part of Early Learning Indiana’s Early Years Initiative, allowed the RCLC to hire a full-time coordinator and two part-time parent educators for the program, and to expand participation in the program from 125 to 400 parents annually.

Early Learning Indiana also supports the RCLC’s preschool program.

Robinson Community Learning Center

“From the outset, the RCLC has been committed to preK-12 and parent education as part of a holistic approach to early childhood development,” said Tim Sexton, associate vice president for public affairs at Notre Dame. “This includes Talk With Your Baby as well as a variety of multilingual after-school, evening and summer tutoring and enrichment programs, robotics and theater programs, and a high-quality preschool program geared toward fostering the social, emotional, physical, cognitive and creative development of every child. This commitment is part of a broader focus on the entire South Bend-Elkhart region, and is only possible through the generous support of individuals and organizations like Lilly Endowment and Early Learning Indiana.”

As a trusted local provider of early childhood care and resources, the RCLC partners with local organizations to deliver Talk With Your Baby to hundreds of parents and caregivers annually, with a focus on reading, emotional coaching and other aspects of good parenting.

Parents and caregivers learn to use books as a medium for imaginative interaction, verbal exploration, vocabulary building, receptive and expressive language skills, and emotional closeness, leading to better achievement in reading, school, relationships and other aspects of learning and life.

Building on the important work of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health, Talk With Your Baby was originally established as an initiative of Memorial Health Foundation, now Beacon Health Foundation, in 2009.

Since then, more than 3,000 parents and caregivers have participated in the program, along with more than 150 facilitators, the majority of them trained by the RCLC. More than 22,000 books have been distributed through the program.

The RCLC is an off-campus educational initiative of Notre Dame in partnership with Northeast Neighborhood residents, offering a variety of programs for children and adults as well as classes, clubs and lectures for seniors.

For more information, visit rclc.nd.edu.

Habitat partnership bears fruit for homebuyers in South Bend

2025-01-14T08:39:00-05:00

Joel Gibbs was about five years into his job as a maintenance technician at the University of Notre Dame when the message arrived in his inbox.

“Find out if you qualify to build a new home with Habitat,” read the headline in the March 7, 2023, edition of NDWorks Weekly, the weekly e-newsletter for Notre Dame faculty, staff, and their families.

Notre Dame, via its public affairs, treasury services, and University relations offices, had recently partnered with Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County to increase access to affordable housing in South Bend. Now, it was asking employees if they wanted to join with the local nonprofit too.

A single father, Gibbs was intrigued.

“I saw the post in NDWorks Weekly and thought, ‘Let’s give it a shot,’” he said.

Less than two years later, Gibbs is the proud owner of a new home on Turnock Street in South Bend, five blocks south of campus in the city’s Northeast Neighborhood, which encompasses Eddy Street Commons and the rapidly developing Indiana 23 corridor.

Read the story

As temperatures rise, research points the way to lower energy costs, better living conditions for low-income households

2025-01-02T15:00:00-05:00

Ming Hu, associate professor of architecture and engineering, and Siavash Ghorbany, doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering, collect several monitors from a home in South Bend. The monitors were used to collect data such as temperature, humidity and CO2 levels from the home. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Due to poor and outdated housing infrastructure and lack of material resources, lower-income individuals are less prepared than those with higher incomes to weather the coming climate crisis — in particular, the increasing risk of heat-related death and illness from longer and hotter summers and more severe heat waves.

But with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), researchers at the University of Notre Dame — including Ming Hu, associate professor of architecture; Chaoli Wang, professor of computer science and engineering; Matthew Sisk, associate professor of the practice of data science; and Eugenio Acosta, senior associate director of the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate — are using data and analytics to lower energy costs and improve living conditions for those living in older, less efficient homes, starting in South Bend.

Ming Hu

Led by Hu, also the dean for research, scholarship and creative work within the 91��Ƶ of Architecture, the BUILT2AFFORD initiative is pairing advanced computational technology and strong community partnerships. The goal is to develop, test and validate a tool that uses machine learning and Google Street View to identify housing units suitable for low-cost passive retrofits — things such as improved insulation and air sealing, new windows, upgraded ventilation systems and exterior shading.

The group, which also includes faculty from the Center for Broader Impacts, is partnering with the city of South Bend, the Near Northwest Neighborhood (NNN), South Bend Heritage Foundation and Oldtown Capital Partners to target single-family homes and apartment buildings downtown and on the city’s near northwest side, an economically diverse area with pockets of wealth but high overall levels of poverty.

In addition to the NSF, contributors to the project include the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate and the Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab's Ethical Cities program.

In lower-income neighborhoods especially, older homes tend to suffer from inadequate insulation; leaky ducts; cracked floors, ceilings and walls; drafty doors and windows; outdated HVAC systems; and other effects of age and disrepair, leading to higher energy costs and less safe and comfortable living conditions.

“We’re all living in the same housing stock. So when there’s research to come up with low-cost solutions to what are probably going to be common issues, it’s really very important to us because, a lot of times, it seems like if you’re trying to scratch the surface of energy efficiency in your home, you’re looking at a $50,000 or $60,000 bill.”

“Generally speaking, older buildings do not have the same thermal properties as newer buildings in terms of absorbing heat and resisting heat transfer from inside to outside and vice versa,” said Hu, who also is a concurrent associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences. “So this can create higher risks for indoor heat exposure.”

Pregnant women and children, the elderly and those with respiratory or other health issues are especially vulnerable, Hu said, as are those living in traditionally colder climates, where buildings and other infrastructure are less resilient to extreme heat.

Hu noted that people spend about 80 percent of their time indoors. For elderly people, the number is closer to 90 percent. Our homes, she said, have an outsize influence on our health.

Kathy Schuth, a Notre Dame graduate in architecture, is the executive director of the Near Northwest Neighborhood Inc. She noted that, from a structural standpoint, the neighborhood looks much the same today as it did in the 1920s.

“We’re all living in the same housing stock,” Schuth said. “So when there’s research to come up with low-cost solutions to what are probably going to be common issues, it’s really very important to us because, a lot of times, it seems like if you’re trying to scratch the surface of energy efficiency in your home, you’re looking at a $50,000 or $60,000 bill.”

A data-driven approach

Part of the NSF’s Civic Innovation Challenge, the BUILT2AFFORD project involves the creation of representative layouts for thermal comfort simulations — essentially, models of relative comfort based on a home’s size, layout, location and orientation, among other factors.

To do this, researchers partner with property owners to collect and analyze data from a variety of housing types.

Leveraging multiple computer vision models developed by the team since 2023, they begin by using Google Street View to extract the physical characteristics of housing that influence energy use and indoor thermal comfort. These data points, combined with additional housing property data from open-source databases, form the foundation of the prediction tool BUILT2AFFORD.

To ensure the tool’s accuracy and robustness, the research team conducts field audits. These audits start with the creation of a 3D scan of the relevant house or apartment unit. Next, the team members take thermal images, measure for moisture content and document building materials and insulation. Finally, they place sensors around the house to measure temperature, humidity and air quality for one week.

The resulting data are then analyzed to identify problem spots, with the goal of creating an exposure model to predict risk across housing types.

“The idea is really around, what are low-cost solutions we can use to find where the problems are, and then low-cost solutions that we can use to help address those problems?”

So far, around a dozen property owners, including South Bend Heritage Foundation and Old Town Capital Partners, which owns the Mar-Main apartment building downtown, have agreed to participate in the project.

“The idea is really around, what are low-cost solutions we can use to find where the problems are, and then low-cost solutions that we can use to help address those problems?” said Sisk, the team’s data science professor who leads the Geospatial Analysis and Learning Lab within the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society. “So it’s largely about targeting resources to the proper locations.”

As a resident of the Near Northwest Neighborhood, Sisk is well aware of the challenges that come with owning and living in an older home. His house, within the Chapin Park Historic District, was built in the late 1800s, before air conditioning, foam insulation and double-pane windows, among other modern materials and conveniences.

“I run into a lot of the same sorts of issues” as other homeowners, Sisk said, “like places that are ridiculously hot for no good reason, that the AC doesn’t do anything for, and it’s basically unmanageable in the summer.”

That said, every house is unique.

Siavash Ghorbany, a doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering, uses his cell phone to scan a data monitor at a home in South Bend. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Early on in their research, Hu and her team collected data from two houses of similar size, age and location — one fully renovated, including new heating and cooling systems and added insulation; the other largely untouched — with surprising results: Compared with the renovated house, the unrenovated house performed much better in terms of temperature and air quality.

Among other things, Hu said, “this just tells us that the conventional wisdom, the conventional solution of just adding insulation everywhere in the house does not necessarily work.”

Reed Lyons is among the homeowners participating in the project, having learned about it during a presentation Hu gave to NNN residents in early October.

A software developer, Lyons lives with his wife and two children in a two-story house on Cottage Grove Avenue. The house was built around 1914. The NNN, as part of its affordable housing program, acquired and renovated the property in 2012. The Lyonses bought it in 2019.

“We’ve noticed some issues with efficiency and some issues with air quality, just knowing that it’s an older home,” Lyons said. “So we’re just curious to see what the data show.”

He said working with Hu and her team — which in addition to Sisk and Wang includes Lucy Graduate Scholar Siavash Ghorbany, a doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering; doctoral candidate in computer science Siyuan Yao; and multiple undergraduate research assistants — has been a breeze.

“It’s really been a low investment in terms of our time and resources, and they’ve been really easy and wonderful to work with,” he said.

Notre Dame has a long relationship with the NNN, having partnered with the organization on a number of projects in the past. Notably, the Notre Dame Lead Innovation Team has worked closely with the community development organization and de facto neighborhood association to reduce lead exposure in the neighborhood, particularly among children.

“The NNN is kind of optimal for these kinds of projects,” Sisk said. “They have an extremely engaged neighborhood organization, and their president is an architect by training. They’ve been a key partner for years in many grants and many projects with us.”

For the purposes of this project, Sisk said, the neighborhood is also “very representative” of a Rust Belt neighborhood — socially and economically diverse, with brick-lined streets of well-preserved homes in Craftsman, Tudor and Victorian styles next to “some of the most historically troubled blocks in the city.”

Ming Hu, associate professor of architecture and engineering, Siavash Ghorbany, doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering, and Matthew Sisk, associate professor of the practice at the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, leave a home in South Bend after collecting a several monitors that were placed there the week before. The monitors were used to collect data such as temperature, humidity and CO2 levels within the home. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Next steps

In collaboration with the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, Hu and her team are already applying for a phase 2 NSF grant to validate their research, with plans to retrofit a certain number of homes and analyze the results. The grant would pay for at least 80 percent of the cost of the retrofits, with local programs potentially covering the rest.

The city of South Bend, in partnership with enFocus, currently pays for some energy upgrades as part of Greener Homes, a pilot program for low-income, elderly homeowners who are part of Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County’s Aging in Place Program. The program was established with support from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County.

Alexandro Bazán is the director of sustainability for the city.

Working from a lab at Walsh Family Hall of Architecture, Ming Hu, associate professor of architecture and engineering, and Siavash Ghorbany, doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering, analyze data as part of a project aimed at reducing energy costs for low-income households in South Bend. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

“The city of South Bend is looking forward to continued collaboration with Notre Dame,” Bazán said, adding, “This project is a great opportunity to advance our community’s goals on climate action.”

Using the indoor heat exposure model, Hu and her team ultimately plan to create an online tool, or dashboard, to quickly and easily identify housing units suitable for passive, low-cost energy upgrades based on design indications, energy efficiency and health risks — without the need to actually enter the homes and collect data.

“The dashboard will be tied to the indoor heat exposure model, so the indoor heat exposure predication is the key,” Hu said.

Separately, Hu is also collecting data outside of South Bend, in Chicago and elsewhere, so that once the dashboard is up, it can be adapted to other regions of the country.

“We’re also committed to a series of training workshops for policymakers, developers and residents to show them how to use the dashboard if they want to,” Hu said. “So that is continued training that is for South Bend and for Indiana in particular.”

Social responsibility

Hu’s research is incredibly timely.

According to the United Nations, by hitting the poorest hardest, climate change increases existing economic inequalities and causes more people to fall into poverty. A World Bank report estimated that an additional 68 million to 135 million people could be pushed into poverty by 2030 because of climate change.

From a public health perspective, a warming planet increases the risk of heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke — particularly among vulnerable populations such as children, pregnant women and older adults. It also worsens air quality, which can lead to asthma attacks and other respiratory issues, and it contributes to unhealthy concentrations of ground-level ozone, which can damage lung tissue, reduce lung function and inflame airways.

“When I was trained, at least at Notre Dame, we were taught a lot about the social responsibility of architecture. The building is not merely an art piece; even when it aspires to be artistic, it serves as civic art, designed with a profound responsibility to its users, rather than existing as a mere monumental sculpture."

Heat even affects sleep, the most fundamental of human needs.

But it’s not just the heat — extreme cold is a concern as well.

“We all have to realize that things are going to be way more variable moving forward,” Sisk said. “We’re going to have weeks of 95-degree summer weather, but then also sub-zero weeks during winter, and we have to be prepared for both, which is super hard.”

According to Hu, the most recent climate report for Indiana predicts average temperatures in the state will rise by 5 to 6 degrees over the next 30 years, increasing the frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves. The average hottest day of the year is projected to increase to 105 degrees.

“Our infrastructure, including our housing, is not built for excessive heat. Our energy grid is not built to accommodate higher peak load during the summertime,” Hu said. “So what we’re worried about is the domino effect. If the grid goes out, there’s no cooling in those houses. What happens if that lasts a couple of weeks? Where do people go?”

A native of China, Hu holds multiple degrees in architecture from Notre Dame and elsewhere. She has a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Maryland.

Ming Hu, associate professor of engineering and architecture, and Siavash Ghorbany, doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering, collect monitoring equipment from a home in South Bend's Near Northwest Neighborhood, about a mile from campus. The equipment was used to record data such as temperature, humidity and CO2 levels in the home over the course of several days. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Prior to joining the Notre Dame faculty, she spent several years in private practice, designing signature buildings for high-profile corporate clients and working on urban redevelopment projects around the globe. She also taught at Maryland as well as at Catholic University of America and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

She returned to Notre Dame, she said, out of a sense of social responsibility.

“When I was trained, at least at Notre Dame, we were taught a lot about the social responsibility of architecture. The building is not merely an art piece; even when it aspires to be artistic, it serves as civic art, designed with a profound responsibility to its users, rather than existing as a mere monumental sculpture,” Hu said. “So I always wanted to go back to social responsibility as a part of architecture, and I was always interested in how beauty actually functions. What is the experience of the occupants?”

That same philosophy — consistent with a fundamentally Catholic concern for the common good — animates the Lucy Institute as well.

“This is an ideal situation for a Lucy collaboration project, because we’re very deeply involved in the research part of it, but also in the ‘for societal good’ part,” Sisk said. “This kind of sums up those two sides of what we are designed to do.”

Alumna Jessica Ashman, doctoral candidate Maria Caterina Gargano named Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellows

2024-10-11T09:00:00-04:00

University of Notre Dame alumna Jessica Ashman and graduate student Maria Caterina “Cat” Gargano have been selected as Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellows for the 2024-25 academic year.

Established through bipartisan legislation in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, the Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship honors the legacy of the late civil rights leader and lawmaker, who served 33 years in the House of Representatives.

The fellowship, awarded to select Fulbright U.S. Student Program finalists, provides expanded learning opportunities to enable participants to enhance the reach and impact of their Fulbright experience, and to promote studies, research and international exchange on nonviolent movements that establish and protect civil rights around the world.

This inaugural group of fellows represents the diversity of the United States through their backgrounds and experiences, and as researchers in a range of academic disciplines. They will carry out research in 23 countries.

President Joe Biden announced the cohort during the Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

“I’m excited to announce tonight that we have selected the first class of Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellows, who will learn how to establish and protect freedom and justice and equity, not just at home but around the world,” Biden said.

Ashman graduated from Notre Dame in May with two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from the College of Arts and Letters, and a Bachelor of Arts in global affairs, with a concentration in international development studies, from the Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ, which is part of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. She minored in Latino 91��Ƶ.

Jessica Ashman

Originally from Maryland, Ashman is passionate about topics related to sociocultural identity and its intersections with human development. She strongly believes in the power of social science research to generate informed solutions to complex problems.

As an undergraduate, she conducted independent research into issues related to colorism, anti-Haitianism, national identity and education in the Dominican Republic with support from Karen Richman, director of undergraduate academic programs at the Institute for Latino 91��Ƶ and a Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ faculty fellow. She also worked with Luis Felipe R. Murillo, assistant professor of anthropology and faculty fellow at the Notre Dame Technology Ethics Center, whose work is dedicated to the study of computing from an anthropological perspective.

As a Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellow, Ashman is exploring issues related to transnational Blackness and social inclusion in Ecuador. Beyond that, she plans to pursue a doctorate in sociocultural anthropology with the hopes of becoming a research-teaching professor.

Gargano is a doctoral candidate in peace studies and psychology in the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs and College of Arts and Letters, respectively. Within Keough, she is part of both the Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ and the Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ. She is a former Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society Graduate Scholar.

Maria Caterina Gargano

Gargano received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a laurea magistrale in protection of human rights and international cooperation from Università di Bologna in Italy. Most recently, she worked with the Psychosocial Innovation Network, a Serbian nongovernmental organization, to found the Consortium of Refugees’ and Migrants’ Mental Health.

Gargano’s research focuses on migration, interpersonal violence and mental health. Her experiences in transit countries have made her particularly interested in developing interventions that are trauma-informed, culturally meaningful and feasible to apply in displacement and other low-resource contexts.

As a dual Fulbright-Garcia Robles and Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellow, she is conducting research in Tijuana, Mexico, in support of her dissertation, which focuses on temporal and spatial violence during migration, as well as the nascent psychological literature on transit. Through this, she hopes to deliver actionable insights from people who are migrating to policymakers, practitioners and researchers.

In the long term, she plans to continue her research and advocacy work in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, ideally as a professor of psychology or migration studies.

Ashman worked closely with the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE), and Gargano with the Graduate 91��Ƶ’s Office of Grants and Fellowships, in applying to the Fulbright program.

Emily Hunt is the assistant director of scholarly development at CUSE.

“Congratulations to Jessica and Cat,” Hunt said. “It is an honor for Notre Dame to have two students represented in the inaugural cohort of the Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellows program.”