Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, is scheduled to donate one of his kidneys Monday (Aug. 11) in a four-patient transplantation procedure at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore.
Notre Dames president from 1987 to 2005, Father Malloy volunteered earlier this year to donate a kidney to his 41-year-old nephew, Johnny Rorapaugh. The son of Father Malloys sister Joanne, Rorapaugh learned two years ago that he has severe kidney dysfunction, and he has been on dialysis three times weekly ever since.
After no match was found among several of Rorapaughs immediate family members, Father Malloy – who goes by the nicknameMonk- began to consider becoming a donor. He thought that at age 67 he would be considered too old, but after going through a wide array of tests, it was determined that he is in excellent health, and he learned on April 11 that he was approved to go forward as a donor for his nephew.
In recent weeks, however, the transplantation took on a new twist when doctors realized that a man who had hoped to donate a kidney to his mother is a better match for Rorapaugh, and, fortuitously, Father Malloy is a match for the mans mother. The four operations and two transplants will occur Monday morning at Johns Hopkins.
In bringing public attention to the transplant, Father Malloy said he does not want to be portrayed as a hero. Instead, he hopes to motivate others to donate because,having gone through this process, I’ve learned just how desperate the demand is,he said.
Ironically, Father Malloys father lost the use of one of his kidneys as a youth – possibly from some kind of trauma or tuberculosis – and lived to age 77 with just one kidney.
Father Malloy was appointed to the Notre Dame faculty in 1974 and is a professor of theology. Ordained to the priesthood in 1970, he holds three degrees from Notre Dame and a doctorate in Christian ethics from Vanderbilt University. He is the recipient of 24 honorary degrees, and a chaired professorship in Catholic studies at Vanderbilt is named in his honor.
During Father Malloys 18 years as president, Notre Dame experienced rapid growth in its reputation due to substantive improvements in the size and scholarly credentials of its faculty, the academic quality and diversity of the student body, and its financial resources and physical infrastructure.
Father Malloys academic concentration on the interplay of personal morality with public policy and professional ethics informs his own active public life. He is a leading advocate of volunteerism and has served on numerous boards dedicated to community service, including Campus Compact, Boys&Girls Clubs of America and the Points of Light Foundation. He also has worked to combat substance abuse through service to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse and other organizations.
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