Rev. John Jenkins elected 17th president of Notre Dame; Father Malloy stepping down at end of current term

Author: Matthew V. Storin

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The Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame elected Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., as the University’s 17th president today after Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., announced his intention to step down as president at the end of his current term on June 30, 2005.p. A vice president and associate provost at Notre Dame since July 2000, Father Jenkins was elected to a five-year term. He is an associate professor of philosophy and has been a member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1990.p. “As Trustees, we all look forward to working with Father Jenkins,” said Patrick McCartan, chair of the University’s Board of Trustees.The superb academic credentials he brings to the leadership of Notre Dame at this time in its history will be of critical importance to realization of our aspiration to become one of the great research universities of the world with a distinctly Catholic character.p. "We are all greatly indebted to Monk (Father Malloy) for his 17 years of exceptional leadership and very appreciative of all the significant advancements made by the University of Notre Dame during his tenure.p. “All one needs to do is to tour our campus, consult the rankings, examine the credentials of our faculty, and the outstanding qualifications of our student body to realize what he has accomplished for Notre Dame. He leaves a truly remarkable record and legacy.”p. Father Jenkins said: “I thank the Board of Trustees for the tremendous honor and responsibility of leading the University of Notre Dame. I look forward to working closely with Father Malloy in preparing for a smooth transition.”p. Notre Dame’s president since 1987, Father Malloy thanked the Board for its confidence and support through the years.p. “It has been an honor and privilege to serve the University, which since its founding by the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1842 always has sought to remain faithful to its mission and identity as a Catholic university while also striving for excellence in its academic life, in its residential existence, and in the service it renders,” he said.p. “I have worked with some wonderful colleagues, and I am proud of what we have been able to achieve together.”p. After stepping down as president, Father Malloy, who will turn 63 on Monday (May 3), plans to take a sabbatical, followed by a renewed commitment to teaching, writing, pastoral ministry and service on boards of various not-for-profit organizations.p. The Board of Trustees also today elected John Affleck-Graves executive vice president of the University. Affleck-Graves, who holds the Notre Dame Chair in Finance, also is a vice president and associate provost. (See separate news release.)p. Prior to his election as vice president and associate provost, Father Jenkins, 50, had been religious superior of the Holy Cross priests and brothers at Notre Dame for three years. As religious superior, he was a Fellow and Trustee of the University, but he relinquished those posts to assume his duties in the provost’s office.p. Father Jenkins specializes in the areas of ancient philosophy, medieval philosophy and the philosophy of religion. He is the author of “Knowledge and Faith in Thomas Aquinas,” published by Cambridge University Press in 1997, and has had scholarly articles published in The Journal of Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy and Theology, and The Journal of Religious Ethics. He delivered the annual Aquinas Lecture at the University of Dallas in January 2000 and was the recipient of a Lilly Teaching Fellowship in 1991-92.p. Father Jenkins earned two degrees in philosophy from Oxford University in 1987 and 1989. While at Oxford, he taught in Notre Dame’s London Program. He earned his master of divinity degree and licentiate in sacred theology from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, Calif., in 1988. Prior to joining the Congregation of Holy Cross, he earned bachelors and masters degrees in philosophy from Notre Dame in 1976 and 1978, respectively.p. Father Jenkins was ordained a priest in Notre Dame’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart in 1983. He served as director of the Old College program for Notre Dame undergraduate candidates for the Congregation of Holy Cross from 1991 to 1993.p. A native of Omaha, Neb., Father Jenkins was born Dec. 17, 1953.p. Father Malloy succeeded Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., as Notre Dame’s 16th president after having served five years as vice president and associate provost. He is a professor of theology and has been a member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1974. A rarity among university presidents, he continues to teach, conducting a seminar for first-year undergraduates each semester, and he makes his home in a student residence hall on campus.p. Father Malloy has led Notre Dame at a time of rapid growth in its reputation, faculty, and resources. During his tenure, Notre Dames faculty has increased by more than 500; the academic quality of the student body has improved dramatically, the average SAT score rising from 1240 to 1360; the number of minority students has more than doubled; the endowment has grown from $350 million to more than $3 billion; the annual operating budget has risen from $177 million to more than $650 million; and annual research funding has improved from $15 million to more than $70 million. Notre Dames most recent capital campaign raised $1.1 billion, far exceeding its goal of $767 million, and is the largest in the history of Catholic higher education.p. Father Malloy earned his doctorate in Christian ethics from Vanderbilt University in 1975, and Vanderbilt honored him in 1998 with the establishment of a chair in Catholic studies in his name. He also has been awarded 12 honorary degrees. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Notre Dame in 1963 and 1967 and a second master’s degree, in theology, in 1969 while studying for the priesthood. He was ordained in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the Notre Dame campus in 1970.p. Father Malloy has been recognized by several prominent Irish-American organizations and is a recipient of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Balfour Silver Anniversary Award, given to former varsity basketball players who have distinguished themselves in civic leadership and service.p. Father Malloy’s service to higher education includes membership on the boards of Vanderbilt University and the Universities of Portland and St. Thomas; leadership roles as chair of the American Council on Education (ACE), the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), and Campus Compact; and participation on the Business-Higher Education Forum, the general council of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), the board of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), the board of directors of the NCAA Foundation, and the editorial advisory board of The Presidency, the magazine of ACE.p. Father Malloy also has played a leadership role in efforts to promote community service and combat substance abuse. In addition to Campus Compact, his roles in encouraging social service have included being a member of the advisory board of the AmeriCorps and National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), a founding director of the Points of Light Foundation, and a member of the board of governors of Boys and Girls Clubs of America.p. In combating substance abuse, Father Malloy has been a member of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, President Bushs Advisory Council on Drugs, the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, and the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, for which he has chaired Commissions on Substance Abuse Among Americas Adolescents and on Substance Abuse at Colleges and Universities. He currently is co-chair of the subcommittee on college drinking of the National Institutes of Health, and for CASA, he now chairs the National Commission on Substance Abuse and Sports.p. A native of Washington, D.C., Father Malloy was born May 3, 1941.p. Notre Dame’s bylaws specify that the "president of the University shall be elected by the Trustees from among the members of the Priests Society of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Indiana Province, after receiving recommendations made by the Nominating Committee of the Board.‘p. The Indiana Province, so named because its headquarters are in South Bend, Ind., is the largest component of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a religious order whose priests, brothers and sisters are principally engaged in education, parish, missionary, hospital and prison ministries. Members work throughout the United States, Africa, Asia, South America and other parts of North America. Almost 100 Holy Cross priests and brothers of the Indiana Province live and work on Notre Dame’s campus as professors, campus ministers, hall rectors, administrators and in other positions.

Contact: Matthew V. Storin, associate vice president for news and information, 574-631-8696

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