In coming weeks, the University of Notre Dame will host the former director of the National Science Foundation and a distinguished panel on women in the life of the Church as part of the continuing 2013-14 Notre Dame Forum “Women in Leadership.”
“With the importance of science in addressing the world’s most daunting challenges and Pope Francis’ recent elevation of the discussion of women in the Church, the Notre Dame Forum celebrates in timely fashion, indeed, women not only as witnesses to history but as history makers through their leadership and vision,” said University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
Rita Colwell (photo courtesy of Rita Colwell)
On March 19 (Wednesday), the Notre Dame Forum will feature Rita Colwell, the former director of the National Science Foundation and renowned scientist and educator. Colwell is chair of Canon US Life Sciences Inc. and Distinguished University Professor at both the University of Maryland at College Park and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Colwell’s lecture, “Oceans, Climate, and Human Health: The Cholera Paradigm,” will be at 7 p.m. in DeBartolo Hall, Room 101.
On April 3 (Thursday), the Notre Dame Forum will take up the topic of women in the life of the Church. Convening a number of people who contributed articles to the October 2013 issue of America magazine, which explored this topic, the event will feature Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism and associate professor of American studies; Rev. Matt Malone, S.J., editor-in-chief of America magazine; Kerry Alys Robinson, executive director of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management; Annie Selak, residence hall rector and lay minister; and Sister Ann Astell, professor of theology. The panel discussion will be moderated by Anne Thompson of NBC News and will be held at 7 p.m. in Jordan Auditorium in Mendoza College of Business.
The first event of the 2013-2014 Forum featured Michèle Flournoy, the highest ranking civilian woman in Pentagon history, and Gen. Ann Dunwoody, the first woman to achieve the rank of four-star general. In a conversation also moderated by Thompson, Flournoy and Dunwoody shared their experiences as leaders as well as their insights about the challenges facing the Pentagon and the United States today. In October, in partnership with the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Forum welcomed Jacqueline Novogratz, the founder and CEO of Acumen, a nonprofit global venture fund that brings together free markets and philanthropy, investing charitable donations in businesses that provide essential services to the world’s poor while creating thousands of jobs.
An additional event planned in partnership with the Nanovic Institute for European Studies was to bring Hanna Suchocka, former prime minister of Poland and former ambassador to the Holy See, to campus. This event is being rescheduled for the fall due to the ambassador’s health.
Established by Father Jenkins in 2005, the Notre Dame Forum has featured talks by leading authorities on complex issues related to immigration, sustainability, global health, the global marketplace, K-12 education and the role of faith in a pluralistic society. Each year, the forum spotlights a major issue that can serve as a focus for reflection and discussion across the University community.
More information is available at forum2013.nd.edu.