The Notre Dame community now knows who will lead the university when the [autotag]Rev. John Jenkins[/autotag] retires after the current academic year. The [autotag]Rev. Robert Dowd[/autotag] has been elected as the 18th president in the university’s history. He will take over for Jenkins on July 1.
Dowd originally is from Michigan City, which is about 40 miles west of campus. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame in 1987 and, after being ordained a priest in 1994, served as part of campus ministry. Since 2004, he has been a faculty member of the political science department.
Jack Brennan, the head of the university’s board of trustees, said the following:
“We are thrilled that Father Dowd will be Notre Dame’s next leader. His character and intellect, along with his broad academic and administrative experience and his deep commitment to Notre Dame, make him an ideal person to lead the University into the future. Since its founding, Notre Dame has been led by a priest-president from the Congregation of Holy Cross, the religious order to which Father Sorin, the University’s founder, belonged. The University has had only three presidents in the last 70 years, each exceptional in their own right – Father Jenkins, Father Edward Malloy, C.S.C., and Father Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C. Father Dowd continues in this rich tradition.”
Dowd, meanwhile, said this:
“I am deeply humbled and honored by the Board’s decision. We can all be grateful for Father Jenkins’ selfless and courageous leadership for almost two decades. Working together with others, his efforts have positioned the University extremely well in every way. We will build on those efforts. Informed by our Catholic mission, we will work together so that Notre Dame is an ever-greater engine of insight, innovation and impact, addressing society’s greatest challenges and helping young people to realize their potential for good.”
Here’s to much success for Dowd and the university once he assumes the reins.
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