text:
tag:news.nd.edu,2005:/news/category/academics Academics // Notre Dame News // Notre Dame News 2015-07-24T13:30:00-04:00 NewsAndInformation/Academicshttps://feedburner.google.com tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/59636 2015-07-24T13:30:00-04:00 2015-07-24T13:38:25-04:00 Record number of students named Fulbright finalists
 Fulbright finalists at the 2015 reception

Eighteen University of Notre Dame students have been named Fulbright grant finalists in the 2015-2016 program, the most grantees the University has ever had in the program. Sixteen finalists have accepted the award.

The Fulbright program is the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program. It awards a one-year postgraduate fellowship for research, study or teaching English abroad. During their fellowship, scholars will work, live and learn in their host country.

"The University's unprecedented Fulbright success this year is indicative of the commitment to internationalization exemplified by Notre Dame International and the units that will make up the Keough School of Global Affairs, among others," said Jeffrey Thibert, assistant director of national fellowships in Notre Dame's Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE). "Our students are especially competitive for the Fulbright and other national fellowships because they are encouraged to pursue international coursework and research and develop a truly global perspective. These fellowships enable Notre Dame alumni to build on their education as they contribute positively to the world and raise the University's profile both at home and abroad."

Notre Dame's 2015-16 Fulbright finalists are:

Kathryne Bascom, Brecksville, Ohio; Russian and Medieval studies, Class of 2015 — English Teaching Assistantship to Russia.

Michael Berino, San Pablo, California; Alliance for Catholic Education Class of 2014 — English Teaching Assistantship to Senegal.

Eric Donahue, Brentwood, Tennessee; biological sciences and German, Class of 2015 — study and research grant to Germany.

Claire Donovan, Lafayette, Colorado; French and international development studies, Class of 2015 — study and research grant to Togo.

Adam Foley, Kent, Ohio; history graduate student — study and research grant to Italy.

Leila Green, Milwaukee; English and education, schooling and society, Class of 2015 — English Teaching Assistantship to South Africa.

Christina Gutierrez, Nashville, Tennessee; political science and Romance languages and literatures, Class of 2015 — study and research grant to Italy.

Erin Hattler, Denver; anthropology and German, Class of 2014 — English Teaching Assistantship to Germany.

Stefanie Israel, South Bend, Indiana; sociology graduate student — study and research grant to Brazil.

Mae Kilker, South Bend, Indiana; Medieval Institute graduate student — study and research grant to Sweden.

Alexis Palá, San Antonio, Texas; anthropology and theology, Class of 2015 — study and research grant to Chile.

Kendra Reiser, Seattle; psychology and education, schooling and society, Class of 2015 — English Teaching Assistantship to Indonesia.

Megan Rogers, Mishawaka, Indiana; sociology graduate student — study and research grant to China.

Rachel Ruddick, Des Plaines, Illinois; biological sciences, German and education, schooling and society, Class of 2015 — English Teaching Assistantship to Germany.

Kathryn Sawyer, South Bend; history graduate student — study and research grant to Switzerland.

Ryan Schultheis, Evansville, Indiana; political science, international economics and business economics, Class of 2015 — English Teaching Assistantship to Mexico.

Six Notre Dame students have also been awarded with national fellowships. Vienna Wagner, a 2015 graduate in English and Carmel, Indiana, native, was awarded a Beinecke Scholarship, which enables promising young scholars to pursue a graduate education in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Michael Dinh, a Maricopa, Arizona, native and 2016 graduate studying biological sciences and psychology and a member of the Glynn Family Honors Program, and Jacob Haley, a Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native and 2015 graduate in mathematics and economics, were each awarded a Goldwater Scholarship. This scholarship, honoring Sen. Barry Goldwater, is designed to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, natural sciences and engineering.

Three Class of 2015 undergraduate students were awarded with National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, which provide funding for research-based study leading to a master's or doctoral degree in STEM fields. Recipients include Ashley Armstrong, mechanical engineering, Flossmoor, Illinois; Patrick Marino, mechanical engineering and physics, Birmingham, Alabama; and Annie Stephenson, physics, Guymon, Oklahoma.

Applications for Fulbright and other national scholarships and fellowships are administered by CUSE and the Graduate School Office of Grants and Fellowships. CUSE provides undergraduate students in all the University's colleges opportunities for research, scholarship and creative projects. More information on the offices is available at cuse.nd.edu and graduateschool.nd.edu.
 Notre Dame News http://news.nd.edu/news/59636-record-number-of-students-named-fulbright-finalists/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/59514 2015-07-20T14:00:00-04:00 2015-07-20T14:09:25-04:00 STEM research leaders call for change in undergrad education

Immediate change is needed at all levels to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in research universities, according to a paper on undergraduate STEM learning and teaching co-authored by Zachary Schultz, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame, that appears in a special July issue of the journal Nature.

The authors — representatives of the Association of American Universities and the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) Cottrell Scholars — call for the implementation of rigorous pedagogical practices, programs and policies that support, evaluate and reward great teaching. If valuing teaching is to move from rhetoric to reality, "it will require a reallocation of funds — not just priorities," they conclude.

Schultz believes that STEM teaching requires a different approach than traditional undergraduate teaching methods.

"My experience with STEM teaching is you have find ways to encourage students to engage the material," he said. "Unlike other disciplines, just reading the text will not help you. Modern pedagogical approaches all promote active learning. As an instructor, it is much more rewarding to engage with the students interactively than to lecture to them. The goal is to promote student participation and ownership of their learning. As an instructor, I am willing to try different approaches, but ultimately we want to evaluate if it helps students attain the desired learning goals."

Notre Dame has a number of unique programs devoted to engaged undergraduate STEM teaching. An ePortfolio initiative in the College of Engineering provides digitized collections of material including demonstrations, resources and accomplishments that represent an individual, group or institution. Notre Dame researchers have described how ePortfolios can be analyzed to measure student engagement levels providing a new digital learning environment opposed to traditional learning management systems. The College of Science uses a new teaching tool called the Lightboard, which enables faculty to produce videos using the Lightboard to "flip" their classroom and complement their teaching initiatives.

 Zachary Schultz

"At Notre Dame, we have tremendous resources and provide quality teaching," Schultz said. "As we discuss in the article, there are a number of approaches that might improve on the strong foundation that currently exists at Notre Dame. Ultimately it is about student learning, and our students deserve the best experience and service we can provide them."

The paper is part of a package of articles exploring challenges in STEM education. Schultz became involved in writing the article through his Cottrell Scholar Award from RCSA.

"RCSA is using the network of scholars it has built to promote initiatives in STEM education," he said. "I joined a group focused on effective evaluation of teaching and learning about two years ago. We ran a workshop where we brought together leaders in STEM educational research as well as professional society representatives, funding agencies and regular faculty. The workshop went over what is out there and explored new methods for improving and assessing student learning. The workshop organizers then co-wrote the piece in Nature and a longer report on the workshop that was also published this month."

Contact: Zachary Schultz, 574-631-1853, email@example.com
 William G. Gilroy http://news.nd.edu/news/59514-zachary-schultz-stem-education/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/59492 2015-07-17T13:00:00-04:00 2015-07-16T17:08:39-04:00 Hesburgh Libraries receive largest gift in history from Navari Foundation
 Rudy and Jane Navari

The Marilyn & Rudolph M. Navari Charitable Foundation has made a $10 million gift to the Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame, the largest gift in the libraries' history, surpassing the $6 million Ford Foundation Challenge Grant that helped fund the original construction of the then-Memorial Library in the early 1960s.

The gift will be used in part to fund renovation of the future home for the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship in the Hesburgh Library, as well as to establish an endowment to support digital library services and research projects related to the center.

"I am deeply grateful to Rudy and Jane Navari and their family's foundation for this generous gift," said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame's president. "It recognizes the importance of a library for any university community, and the centrality of the Hesburgh Libraries for Notre Dame. This gift will allow us to expand and enhance our library services through digital technology to support the critical work of scholars now and in the future."

In a research world in which it is critical for today's students and faculty to understand how to use and fully leverage emerging technologies, the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship will incorporate state-of-the-art technologies to fundamentally transform the ways in which teaching, research and scholarship are performed, while connecting users to rapidly expanding bodies of knowledge at Notre Dame and around the world.

"As the digital landscape rapidly evolves, libraries have emerged as key partners throughout the full life cycle of teaching and research," said Diane Parr Walker, Edward H. Arnold University Librarian. "The Navari family's gift will bring together technology, digital library expertise and subject area expertise to equip our next generation of scientists and scholars to create new knowledge in a digital environment and make a more profound impact in the world."

With partnerships campus-wide, the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship will serve as an innovation hub that enhances the teaching, learning and research process from a holistic perspective. The center will be composed of two distinct yet synergistic entities: the Digital Research Lab and the Digital Production Facility.

The Digital Research Lab will provide much-needed access to research consultation and to an integrated suite of digital services, including in the areas of data visualization, GIS consultation, data management planning, data analysis and metadata consulting. The lab's advanced computing technologies and technical expertise will enable the Notre Dame community to utilize new media, sophisticated search and visualization tools and other digital resources. The lab will include a high-tech meeting room and classroom.

The Digital Production Facility will drive a superior digitization program that is essential to advancing research across the University. It will spur new forms of scholarship and enable researchers around the globe to access Notre Dame's unique materials and renowned special collections. In this way, scholars near and far will discover the exceptional breadth and quality of the University's various academic programs and resources.

Rudy Navari earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Notre Dame, his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia, and his M.D. degree from the Medical College of Virginia.

"We are pleased to support the Center for Digital Scholarship," the Navaris said. "We trust this center will significantly enhance the learning experiences of Notre Dame students, staff and faculty."

Rudy Navari joined the World Health Organization in 2014 and now serves as director of the Cancer Care Program of Central and South America based in Atlanta. He joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1999 as director of the Walther Cancer Research Center. In 2005, while continuing as an adjunct professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Notre Dame, he was appointed head of the Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend, and in 2011 became the clinical director of the Harper Cancer Research Institute, a joint initiative of Notre Dame and Indiana University. He stepped down from that position in 2013 to lead a National Cancer Institute task force to define research directions for the long-term survival of cancer. He has accepted an invitation to serve on the advisory council for the Hesburgh Libraries.

In addition to serving as the director of the Marilyn & Rudolph M. Navari Charitable Foundation, Jane Navari is a registered nurse and has held positions as head nurse in the Emergency Department at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center, and as director of nursing at Arden Nursing Facility in Seattle and at Hillhaven Nursing Facility in Birmingham. She has also served as a lead volunteer at the Holy Cross Sanctuary and Rehabilitation Center in South Bend.

The family has generously supported Notre Dame for many years, including gifts for the Navari Family Professor of Life Sciences, cancer research, the Marilyn Jane Navari Fellowship and the Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph F. Navari Scholarship. They have been contributors to the University's Sorin Society since 1985.
 Dennis Brown http://news.nd.edu/news/59492-hesburgh-libraries-receive-largest-gift-in-history-from-navari-foundation/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/59491 2015-07-16T14:15:00-04:00 2015-07-16T14:45:22-04:00 Four College of Engineering faculty awarded $1.8M in DURIP grants
Four faculty members from the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame have received Defense University Research Instrumention Program (DURIP) grants from the Department of Defense for 2015, totaling more than $1.8 million. These highly competitive awards will enable the purchase of new state-of-the-art equipment in support of the foundational research being conducted in defense-critical areas at the University.

 Thomas Juliano, left, and Thomas Corke

"Large Hypersonic Quiet Tunnel: Driver Tube and Air Supply" is the title of the proposal submitted by Thomas J. Juliano and Thomas C. Corke. The project was awarded $888,500 to assist in the construction of the country's largest hypersonic quiet wind tunnel. Sustained hypersonic flight is essential to the security of the United States and its partner nations. Building on the research being conducted in existing smaller hypersonic quiet wind tunnels, Notre Dame researchers will be able to more accurately simulate flight in the atmosphere and study the phenomenon known as boundary-layer transition. Vehicles impacted include those re-entering the Earth's atmosphere from orbit; future high-speed, long-range missiles; and even proposed passenger airliners flying at greater than Mach 5. Upon the completion of the Mach 6 quiet tunnel, a Mach 10 tunnel is planned.

Juliano, assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2014, having previously served as a research associate on a National Academy of Sciences fellowship at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University. He is a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

The Clark Equipment Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Corke also serves as director of the Institute for Flow Physics and Control (FlowPAC). Previously on the faculty at the Illinois Institute of Technology, he joined the University in 1999. He is a fellow of the AIAA, American Physics Society (APS) and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), as well as the author of "Design of Aircraft," which has been adopted as the capstone design text in more than a dozen aerospace departments across the United States and in numerous programs around the world. Under his leadership, FlowPAC has become one of Notre Dame's fastest-growing and most successful research centers. In 2007, Corke was the recipient of Notre Dame's President's Research Achievement Award; in 2010, he was the recipient of the AIAA Aerodynamics Award; and in 2014, Notre Dame awarded him the James A. Burns, C.S.C., Graduate School Award for distinction in graduate teaching and contributions to graduate education.

 Harindra Joseph Fernando

A faculty member since 2010, Harindra Joseph Fernando, the Wayne and Diana Murdy Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, was awarded $525,000 for his proposal titled, "A Triple-Lidar Based Automated Remote Sensor for Wind Measurements." The system, which is based on cutting-edge Doppler Lidar (laser radar) technology, will be the first commercial triple Lidar system to operate in the United States. The portable system will be used to measure air velocities in ocean humidity layers above the ocean to enhance radar transmission technology, to capture subseasonal wave propagation in the atmosphere in relation to air-sea interactions, and wind in complex topographical areas with applications to wind energy production. The three line-of-site velocities measured by Lidars produce detailed three-dimensional maps and provide more accurate measurements than single or dual Lidar systems currently in use.

Fernando is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Meteorological Society, APS and ASME. He is also an elected member of the European Academy. In addition to his classroom and research duties, he serves as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Environmental Fluid Mechanics.

 Kenneth Christensen

Kenneth T. Christensen, the College of Engineering Collegiate Professor of Fluid Mechanics, was awarded $490,000 from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) for his proposal titled, "Time-resolved Velocimetry Equipment to Transform Realistic Roughness Research." He studies the physics of flow over complex surfaces, especially surfaces that roughen or are damaged over time. These include the surface damage — erosion, deposit of foreign matter, etc. — that occurs over the operational life of oil and gas pipelines, ship hulls or turbine blades. The equipment that will be purchased through this grant will enable more accurate measurements of these types of flows by capturing their three-dimensional and time-dependent nature, which could lead to changes in maintenance schedules and other activities that would mitigate the surface damage.

Christensen, who joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2014, is a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and an associate editor for the Journal of Visualization. He also serves on the editorial boards of Experiments in Fluids and Measurement Science and Technology. He is the recipient of several awards and honors, including the AFOSR Young Investigator Award in 2006, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2007, the Francois Frenkiel Award for Fluid Mechanics from the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics in 2011, and the Dean's Award for Excellence in Research in 2012 from the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois, where he served as professor, Kritzer Faculty Scholar and associate head for undergraduate and mechanics programs in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering.

More than 695 proposals requesting $257 million were received by the Department of Defense, identifying projects from advances in materials, structures and manufacturing; nanosciences; computing; electronics and electromagnetics; acoustics; neuroscience; fluid dynamics; robotics and autonomous systems; environmental sciences; and more. Approximately 225 of those proposals were funded for a total of $67.8 million, with individual award amounts ranging from $38,000 to $1.4 million.

Originally published at engineering.nd.edu on July 14.
 Nina Welding http://news.nd.edu/news/59491-four-college-of-engineering-faculty-awarded-durip-grants/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/59464 2015-07-15T10:30:00-04:00 2015-07-22T16:47:55-04:00 New paper describes novel synthesis of hyperbranched polymers
 Haifeng Gao

A new paper by a team of researchers that includes Haifeng Gao, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame, presents, for the first time, a one-pot, one-batch synthesis of hyperbranched polymers with tunablemolecular weights, uniform size and high degree of branching using an efficient click polymerization technique.

Hyperbranched polymers with tree-like nanostructures and multiple chain-end functionalities represent an important type of soft nanomaterials that can be used in a variety of applications, ranging from specialty additives, nanomedicines and catalysis.

"However, robust synthetic methods that can easily control the polymer structures, molecular weights and uniformity have not been reported," Gao said. Specifically, the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition polymerization of an AB2 trifunctional monomer demonstrates a desirable 'living' chain-growth mechanism with increased molecular weight versus conversion and clean chain extension in repeated monomer additions. In addition, the reaction of monomer in polymerization showed accelerated reaction of the two B groups, producing hyperbranched polymers with high degree of branching (DB) = 0.83."

The current challenge on the synthesis of hyperbranched polymers is the lack of structural control in the polymer product, which significantly limits their potential applications.

"Development of facile synthetic techniques that can routinely produce structurally defined hyperbranched polymers in large quantities with low cost will definitely stimulate interest and feasibility to explore the materials' properties in these applications," Gao said.

"We are going to investigate the polymerization mechanism in this rationally designed system and explore numerous variables to produce a library of hyperbranched polymers with tunable molecular weights, compositions and microstructures.

"These polymers after decoration and functionalization can demonstrate intriguing properties and will be explored for applications in nanomedicines and polymer catalysis," Gao said.

Gao's research focuses on the interdisciplinary field between polymer chemistry and materials science, targeting new methodologies to synthesize functional polymers with controlled nanostructures and subsequently to discover and exploit their novel physical properties.

"This paper represents our recent research achievement on developing facile techniques to produce structurally defined hyperbranched polymers," he said

The paper can be viewed online here.

Contact: Haifeng Gao, 574-631-8023, firstname.lastname@example.com
 William G. Gilroy http://news.nd.edu/news/59464-new-paper-describes-first-ever-synthesis-of-hyperbranched-polymers/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/59437 2015-07-14T13:30:00-04:00 2015-07-14T15:44:30-04:00 Three questions with Richard Sheehan, banking and sports economics expert
 Richard Sheehan

Richard Sheehan is a professor of finance who conducts research on banking and the economics of sports. He is the author of "Keeping Score: The Economics of Big-Time Sports."

How would you describe your research?

In terms of research in sports, the key issue is applying economics to understand and explain the business decisions that players and executives regularly make. The conventional approach to sports treats it as entertainment, but that approach does a poor job at explaining why players and franchises and leagues make the decisions they do. When you ask fundamental questions that underlie who wins and loses — questions like, "Why did FIFA re-elect Seth Blatter?" or "Why did DeAndre Jordan re-sign with the Clippers?" or "Why is Nick Saban coaching at Alabama?" — the answers are most frequently based on economic factors. With FIFA, the one-country-one-vote model gives the president of FIFA an incentive to spread funds around to small countries and effectively buy their votes while basically ignoring large countries, because there are a lot of small countries — and votes — and few large countries, even though the large countries generate the funds that keep FIFA running. Jordan re-signed with the Clippers because under the rules of the NBA they could offer him more money, although he may be a better fit there as well. Players will sometimes accept a reduced salary for the chance of a championship, but that decision typically comes late in a player's career when they are already financially secure. And Saban is coaching at Alabama and making about $7 million per year, basically at a minor league franchise relative to the NFL, because he is a good coach, a great recruiter, AND because college players do not receive a salary. Simply stated, if college football players were paid their market salaries, college football coaches would be paid dramatically less and the college football landscape would look dramatically different.

Bottom line in terms of research on sports? Economic incentives largely determine who plays where, who gets paid how much, and ultimately has a major impact on who wins and loses.

How did you become interested in this area of research?

I suspect that sports interests many economists from a business perspective because there is so much data available on the business of sports that is unavailable for the typical business. The first question that I asked in terms of the economics of sports, over 20 years ago now, was prompted while waiting in traffic after a Friday night Notre Dame pep rally. The question: If Notre Dame's football program could be "spun off" as a separate entity, what would it be worth compared to, say, the Yankees or the Cowboys? The answer is that the most valuable collegiate sports franchises, e.g., the football programs of Texas or Alabama or Michigan or Notre Dame, don't quite match the value of the Cowboys or the Patriots, but they are close in value to a mid-level NFL franchise.

How do you carry out your research?

You need an interesting question with data that will allow you to address an issue that hopefully has applications and implications well beyond the world of sports. For example, most of us regularly hire agents, albeit we don't call them that. Those agents may be a baby-sitter, a lawn service or an accountant or lawyer. How do we know that our agent is any better than the average agent in that field? We may have word-of-mouth and we can observe the agent's performance for us. But we generally do not have information on the performance of other agents, e.g., other baby-sitters or other lawyers. Basically, people are looking for information on possible agents, but the process of gathering that information is very difficult because typically each person will have only a tiny bit of information on the universe of possible agents. A similar situation exists in sports. Virtually every MLB player contracts with an agent to negotiate his contract for him. Some agents like Scott Boras are notorious for difficult negotiations, while many work in obscurity. With agents for MLB players, however, we have a ready metric to measure their success: How well are their clients paid? Since baseball players' salaries and performance are public, it is a straightforward econometric exercise to determine how performance impacts pay, and to then determine whether some agents can effectively "show me the money" and deliver a contract better than the typical agent. While sports agents may not have very good reputations, most players appear to believe that their agent is better than the average and performs well for them. The evidence, however, suggests that even the apparent super-agents cannot deliver above-average performance. The implications for you? Your baby-sitter or lawyer or plumber probably delivers only an average value as well.
 William G. Gilroy http://news.nd.edu/news/59437-three-questions-with-richard-sheehan/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58500 2015-07-12T12:00:00-04:00 2015-07-23T07:01:03-04:00 Emil Hofman, professor emeritus of chemistry and former dean, dies at 94
 Emil Hofman

Emil T. Hofman, professor emeritus of chemistry and former dean of the First Year of Studies at the University of Notre Dame, died Saturday morning (July 11). He was 94 years old.

"Emil Hofman, a legendary professor who influenced the lives of generations of students at Notre Dame, was a demanding but caring professor, a dedicated administrator and a man of faith. In many ways, he embodied the spirit of Notre Dame," said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame's president. "My prayers are with his family as we both mourn his passing and celebrate his life and legacy."

Hofman taught chemistry to more than half of each freshman class from 1950 to 1990, counting more than 32,000 graduates as former students. He embodied the Notre Dame spirit of tough love, demanding excellence in the classroom and working just as hard outside of it to make his students love the University as he did. Yet he considered his biggest contribution to be two efforts he led as the first dean of what was then called the Freshman Year of Studies in the 1970s: integrating women into an all-male campus and instituting a broad first-year curriculum to give students a chance to explore before picking a major.

Hofman was born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1921. His mother died and his father lost his baking business during the Great Depression. He studied chemistry at Seton Hall University mainly because the two men who ordered his father's most expensive pies were both chemists. During World War II, he entered the Army Air Force and flew combat missions over Europe, earning the air medal and presidential unit citation. He used the GI bill to study at Catholic University and the University of Miami.

Hofman arrived at Notre Dame in 1950 and never left, earning master's and doctoral degrees in science in 1953 and 1963, respectively. He exemplified a rare combination found in all the great teachers: He was a lion on the stage who commanded a crowded auditorium without a microphone, yet he somehow conveyed a hint of his sly sense of humor and joy in teaching. He both exerted total authority over as many as 600 squirming near-adults, and made it clear that he cared about each individual and wanted above all for each to succeed in his class. His rigorous seven-question Friday quizzes became legendary, forcing half the freshman class to stay in and study every Thursday night for decades.

His teaching awards include the Thomas P. Madden Award for excellence in teaching freshmen in 1963, the Presidential Service Citation in 1977, the Professor of the Year award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education in 1985, and the Father James L. Shilts/Doris and Gene Leonard Teaching Award for teaching in the College of Science in 1987.

In the spring of 1971, the late Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., then president of Notre Dame, asked Hofman to become dean of the Freshman Year of Studies and to welcome female students the following fall after 125 years of all-male education. Father Hesburgh said he picked Hofman because the chemistry professor was "a tradition here" and "a very strong force."

Hofman remembered it as the most difficult year of his career, attempting to integrate about 350 women into a student body of about 6,300 men. He disciplined some unwelcoming men and consoled some upset women.

"Father Ted decided on co-ed education, but Emil made it happen," said Julie Silliman, a member of one of the first co-educational classes.

Hofman then undertook a second major transformation at Notre Dame. He felt 18-year-olds were too young to know what they wanted, much less to fail on their dreams. He successfully pushed to make the Freshman Year of Studies equivalent to a college, with its own broad curriculum — despite objections from others who favored more specialization.

"Freshmen need the opportunity to explore (majors) before they commit," Hofman said. "It's our responsibility to help them figure it out."

Within five years of Hofman's changes to broaden the first-year curriculum, fewer than 1 percent of Notre Dame freshmen students were dismissed for academic failure, compared to a national attrition rate of 17 percent.

Notre Dame presented an honorary degree to Hofman when he retired in 1990. He soon began a new tradition — staking out a bench in front of the Main Building before and after daily Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart for what he called his "office hours" for most of the next 20 years. He also persuaded prospects to come to Notre Dame via his homemade videos and scores of alumni club visits.

When a renovation of the Main Building was completed in 1999, University officials established a Wall of Honor and selected a charter group of 20 people to include for "lasting, pervasive and profound" contributions to Notre Dame. The first honorees included Notre Dame founder Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., coach Knute Rockne, Father Hesburgh — and Hofman.

He exemplified Notre Dame's spirit of in loco parentis that sometimes frustrates students but also reminds them of their family. What students need, in his opinion, is tough love. For more than six decades, Hofman provided it in appropriate proportions with all his mind, heart and soul.

In 1957, Hofman married Joan Sherron. She survives, along with three sons and six grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday (July 19), with a rosary service at 5 p.m. at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. A funeral Mass will be at 9:30 a.m. Monday (July 20) at the Basilica. Palmer Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Emil T. Hofman Scholarship Fund, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame IN 46556.
 Brendan O'Shaughnessy http://news.nd.edu/news/58500-emil-hofman/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/59325 2015-07-07T14:00:00-04:00 2015-07-07T14:13:08-04:00 Notre Dame guarantees Saint Mary's students four seats in master of science in management program

The University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College have announced a new partnership that offers Saint Mary's non-business majors the opportunity to be admitted into the University's Master of Science in Management (MSM) program in the Mendoza College of Business. According to an articulation agreement reached between the institutions, Notre Dame will guarantee seats each academic year to four qualified Saint Mary's students. The agreement, signed by Saint Mary's College Provost Patricia Fleming and University of Notre Dame Provost Thomas Burish, is valid through June 1, 2018.

"President Carol Ann Mooney and I had the opportunity to meet with administrators and faculty in Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. I want to thank Dean Roger Huang for his help to kick-start this process. This collaboration will be been beneficial to both our fine institutions," Fleming said. She noted that Saint Mary's alumnae often pursue graduate degrees at Notre Dame and elsewhere. According to surveys of Saint Mary's alumnae, within five years of graduating, about half have enrolled in or completed graduate school.

To be eligible for one of the guaranteed seats in Notre Dame's MSM program, Saint Mary's non-business majors must submit their completed admission applications to Notre Dame for early decision consideration by Nov. 15 and meet the following criteria:

Be U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents;

Have an overall GPA of 3.40 or above;

Have a GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) score of 620 or above;

Submit a written recommendation from the dean or department chair at Saint Mary's.

Those candidates who fall short of the above criteria may still apply through the normal process during the academic year. Notre Dame will give full consideration to all Saint Mary's students who have completed, or are on track to complete, their undergraduate degree with a strong record of academic achievement and submit a completed application for admission along with two letters of recommendation, official GMAT or GRE (Graduate Records Examination) scores and official transcripts.

Saint Mary's College and the University of Notre Dame have a long history as partner Holy Cross institutions. Saint Mary's and Notre Dame jointly offer a five-year engineering dual degree program through which students earn a bachelor's degree from Saint Mary's in four years, often in math or science, and a second bachelor of science in engineering degree from Notre Dame following a fifth year of study. In addition, Saint Mary's and Notre Dame students may take classes at the other's campus through the Saint Mary's/Notre Dame Co-Exchange Program. Also, undergraduate Notre Dame students may take classes from Saint Mary's education faculty in order to complete teaching licensure requirements in approved content areas. Saint Mary's students can also participate in Notre Dame clubs and extracurricular activities, such as the marching band.

The master of science in management is a 10-month graduate program for non-business (major or minor) undergraduates with little or no work experience. The aim of the program is to bridge a student's undergraduate work with its application in a business context by providing fundamental business knowledge and skills, all within Mendoza's ethics-based approach to business education. The MSM program takes place over three semesters — summer, fall and spring — and provides students with a thorough grounding in business fundamentals, such as accounting, finance, business ethics, marketing and management principles as well as an optional international study trip to China.

Contact: Gwen O'Brien, director of media relations, Saint Mary's College, 574-284-4579, firstname.lastname@example.com
 Gwen O'Brien http://news.nd.edu/news/59325-notre-dame-guarantees-saint-marys-students-four-seats-in-master-of-science-in-management-program/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/59079 2015-06-26T13:30:00-04:00 2015-06-26T13:32:50-04:00 Three questions with Rich Taylor: Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month
 Rich Taylor

June is Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, which seemed a particularly apt time to talk with Rich Taylor, a University of Notre Dame researcher whose research focuses on the discovery and development of new therapeutic leads for the treatment of unmet clinical needs in a number of diseases, including Alzheimer's. Taylor is associate vice president for research, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and interim director of the Warren Family Research Center for Drug Discovery and Development.

How would you describe your Alzheimer's research?

My lab investigates the therapeutic potential of compounds produced by bacteria and develops new methods for their production. Through both biological and chemical routes we have been able to generate compounds that are potential leads for Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Recent clinical studies have offered strong support that a dysfunctional protein called Tau is the driver of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease. It has been shown by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania that compounds called microtubule-stabiliizing agents (MSAs) have beneficial effects in mouse models of the disease. Researchers in my lab at Notre Dame have identified new MSAs that efficiently cross the blood brain barrier and may be a value lead for Alzheimer's disease. Through a collaboration with researchers associated with the Bluefield Project, we are also investigating a second set of compounds for FTD.

Why did you decide to pursue Alzheimer's research?

Early in my career, our studies were motivated by a desire to contribute to chemistry at fundamental level. But more recently, I have been inspired by a desire to have impact beyond science and beyond training by focusing on unmet clinical needs. In the specific case of our Alzheimer's disease and FTD studies, I have been deeply influenced by my mother's dementia and the difficulties it places on the daily lives of her and my dad. I am confident that at some point in the future this will no longer be an issue. Until then, I will do what I can to either shed further light on the fundamental aspects of the disease or identify novel compounds as potential therapies.

Where do you do your Alzheimer's research?

My research group is a part of the Warren Family Research Center for Drug Discovery and Development, and for the past 20 years has worked in Stepan Hall of Chemistry and Biochemistry. We are grateful for the generosity of Notre Dame alumni who have enabled us to look forward to our move into McCourtney Hall next summer.
 William G. Gilroy http://news.nd.edu/news/59079-three-questions-with-rich-taylor/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/59002 2015-06-23T11:00:00-04:00 2015-07-16T16:29:03-04:00 Astrophysicist takes 20-year astronomy predictions to Congress
 Justin Crepp

Justin Crepp, an astrophysicist and the Frank M. Freimann Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Notre Dame, will participate in a Congressional briefing on Wednesday (June 24) about the potential of science to change the world in the not-too-distant future.

The briefing was organized by the Science Coalition, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of more than 60 of the nation's leading public and private research universities that is dedicated to sustaining the federal government's investment in basic scientific research and protecting America's preeminence in research innovation.

At the congressional briefing, Crepp will discuss his predictions for what space discovery will be like in 2034, focusing on one major piece of equipment that will provide a leap forward in galactic understanding and discovery — an eight-meter telescope equipped with an advanced starlight suppression system called the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF).

"By 2034 I believe that NASA will have the TPF in space, directly imaging planets that are 10 billion times fainter than their parent stars," Crepp says in a feature story on Science 2034. "This enormous leap beyond 2014 capabilities will allow scientists to meaningfully search for the 'biomarkers' that will distinguish life-sustaining planets from the rest."

Crepp, co-discoverer of more than 80 extrasolar planets, is currently building a precision spectrometer that will detect Earth-like planets orbiting in the habitable zone of the closest and lowest-mass stars in the galaxy: the M-dwarfs. Crepp's work has been supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation, and he is a recipient of a 2013 NASA Early Career Award.

As a member of the Science Coalition, the University of Notre Dame joins the nation's top research universities in a common objective to educate policymakers on the important role the federal government plays in furthering each university's research mission of developing innovative, cutting-edge solutions to some of the world's most complex challenges.

Contact: Justin Crepp, email@example.com
 Mandy Kinnucan http://news.nd.edu/news/59002-astrophysicist-takes-20-year-astronomy-predictions-to-congress/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58988 2015-06-23T09:25:00-04:00 2015-06-24T09:16:24-04:00 Researchers in new Notre Dame center awarded $3.1M grant to study virtues in science
 Celia Deane-Drummond

Scientists dedicate their lives to research. But there's been little scholarship on the characteristics of people who make that commitment.

Does the daily practice of laboratory research shape their outlook on life? Can it be linked to specific ways of behaving or thinking? How do the habits and perspectives of scientists compare to what we might want from our colleagues, family members or fellow citizens?

A team of researchers in Notre Dame's College of Arts and Letters has been awarded a $3.1 million grant from the Templeton Religion Trust to examine how the concrete practices of science relate to something more abstract — what theologians and philosophers consider "virtues" — and how that connects with other areas of scientists' lives, including their religious beliefs.

This will bring a "fresh approach" to the discussion between theology and science, said Professor of Theology Celia Deane-Drummond, who will co-direct the project with Darcia Narvaez, professor of psychology, and Thomas Stapleford, associate professor in the Program of Liberal Studies.

The endeavor is a key component of Notre Dame's new Center for Theology, Science, and Human Flourishing, which will serve as a hub for transdisciplinary research at the University.

"The vision for the center is to encourage research which extends out to other centers on campus, and perhaps bring them in to collaborate further in the future," Deane-Drummond said. "I want this to be a home for like-minded people to develop their own projects."

 Darcia Narvaez

The three-year initiative, called Developing Virtues in the Practice of Science, will feature an innovative research design that integrates psychological surveys and ethnographic research, with theologians and philosophers contributing throughout the process.

In addition to the three principal investigators, the project team includes collaborators Agustín Fuentes, professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology; Margot Fassler, director of Sacred Music at Notre Dame and Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Music History and Liturgy; six postdoctoral fellows; and six graduate students across multiple disciplines.

"The scope of the project is truly ambitious," Stapleford said. "It is rare to have such a range of scholars working together on a single research project for a sustained period of time. So, even the process of research itself has the potential to establish a new standard for cross-disciplinary work in science studies."

The researchers' first goal will be to collaboratively define which virtues they will examine and how they will be measured.

"I see this project potentially as a model for how to perform interdisciplinary research from the ground up," Narvaez said. "We will have to learn to be comfortable outside our disciplines and work through the differences in vocabulary, conceptualizations and evidentiary practice, but we thereby expect to create new understandings enriched by the wisdom of the participating disciplines."

 Thomas Stapleford

The team may look for qualities in scientists such as faith, humility, wisdom or epistemic empathy — the ability to see a problem from another person's perspective and to recognize where one might bring in assumptions that others do not share.

"You can see how that would be helpful for scientists," Stapleford said, "not only in developing their own research but also in interacting with colleagues from other fields or with citizens who might not have the same kind of training."

A smaller study of the same virtues in musical ensembles will provide a contrasting look at highly trained, cooperative teamwork in a non-scientific field, Deane-Drummond said.

Intensive ethnographic research will be conducted in biology laboratories on the Notre Dame campus and at Durham University in the United Kingdom.

"The ethnographers may be anthropologists or sociologists," Deane-Drummond said. "The idea is that they will participate in the practical work of the science laboratory while treating it as a kind of field site. It's a different methodology from psychological questionnaires."

The project will also include an interdisciplinary working group on the Notre Dame campus and an international advisory board, as well as two colloquia — one at Notre Dame and one at Durham. It will culminate with an interdisciplinary conference at Notre Dame's London Global Gateway.

The postdoctoral team also plans to develop an undergraduate course that is likely to be housed in the Science, Technology, and Values program in collaboration with the John Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values, but open to all students, including from the College of Science.

The researchers believe that, ultimately, the initiative could help scientists become more aware of ways they can cultivate certain dispositions through their research.

"We're hopeful that this is going to help the labs we're studying to be a little more cognizant, more self-aware of how the structures and routines in their laboratory affect the scientists," Stapleford said. "They may have certain ideas about what qualities they want their researchers to have. As we're doing this study, we may uncover practices in the lab that help foster those kinds of characteristics."

Deane-Drummond, who has doctorates in systematic theology and plant physiology, will direct the Center for Theology, Science, and Human Flourishing, which she described as the culmination of a career-long focus on transdisciplinary research.

The center will also house the new Human Distinctiveness Project, led by Deane-Drummond and Fuentes, which will support training for theologians in evolutionary and archaeological anthropology as well as research on the evolution of wisdom.

"Bringing together these different clusters of researchers is a really exciting way to work," she said. "It's very energizing for our postdoctoral fellows, it's good for our graduate students, and it filters down into teaching."

Originally published by Carrie Gates at al.nd.edu on June 22.
 Carrie Gates http://news.nd.edu/news/58988-researchers-in-new-notre-dame-center-awarded-3-1-million-grant-to-study-virtues-in-science/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58749 2015-06-18T10:00:00-04:00 2015-06-22T15:53:55-04:00 Notre Dame faculty read and react to new encyclical on climate change
 Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

University of Notre Dame faculty members continue to comment on the new encyclical Laudato Si', issued by Pope Francis in Rome on Thursday (June 18).

In an op-ed essay in Wednesday's edition of the Chicago Tribune, Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., writes that, "It is characteristic of this pope to speak as the Catholic leader but to seek to build bridges to all people who promote friendship and cooperation serving the good of all.

"The pope's objective will not be to win an election — he will never stand for any kind of election again in his life," Father Jenkins said. "He will be trying to deepen our common reflection and spur action on one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. His goal will be to appeal to consciences."

 Joyce Coffee

According to Joyce Coffee, managing director of the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN), the Pope's letter is "a historic faith-led call to action for the world, asking us to stand together against environmental degradation, global warming, and the resulting impacts on the world's vulnerable people. The encyclical shows the Holy See's respect for the unassailable scientific case for taking climate action. Its themes of environmental stewardship and care for humanity validate the need to act on climate adaptation and resilience, along with mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Focusing on the moral obligation to safeguard the earth and mankind's common good, the Pope mentions 'the urgent challenge to protect our common home' and reminds us of our shared humanity and our shared responsibility to save lives and improve livelihoods in the face of climate change."

 Celia Deane-Drummond

Celia Deane-Drummond, professor of theology, said that, "The encyclical is likely to be one of the most significant papal statements of the 21st century, not because it is inventing anything new theologically, but because what has been on the periphery of theological discussion is now made central. The key insight is this: that our common earthly home is the heritage of all of humanity, not just one political party or nation or civilization. Yet the responsibility for impact on that earthly home through anthropogenic climate change, polluting industries and species extinction is uneven, with those in the richer industrial nations generating the highest carbon, and most polluting, footprint. And those who have contributed the least at present bear the brunt of such impact. This injustice is obvious for all to see, and, in keeping with the tradition of liberation theology, the cry of the earth unites with the cry of the poor."

 Candida Moss

For Candida R. Moss, professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University, "The encyclical is notable for its detail — The scientific language and specific of information allows Francis to head off at the pass accusations that he should stay out of science. The underlying message is that the chemist knows his stuff.

"The biblical and economic language employed by the Pope is especially interesting. The encyclical describes the earth as an 'abused' and 'pillaged' sister. The personification of earth is reminiscent of biblical prophecy in which the land of Israel was depicted as a woman. Just as the Biblical prophets were concerned with abuses of the poor, so too is Francis. By using this language he is adding to the Biblical grammar of sin and saying that care for the environment is a traditional sin just like abuse of the poor. Similarly the economic language of the rich being indebted to the poor levels the global economic playing field. Everyone has racked up debts, says Francis, and it is the obligation of the rich to care for the poor. Care for the poor is fairly standard Francis stuff but it is now couched in terms of economic debt. This is language that is sharp and significant in both theological and practical terms.

"Finally, while he isn't afraid to take aim at Christian climate change deniers who ridicule concern for the environment, there are some subtle olive branches for conservatives too. Benedict linked the destruction of the environment to same-sex relations; Francis subtly ties care for the body of the earth to respect for the gender of one's own body. In keeping with Church teaching and perhaps under the influence of Peter Turkson, the encyclical specifies that people should respect the femininity or masculinity of their own bodies. This may be an olive branch for conservatives bristling from the encyclical's main message, but it might also be a sign that even in the Catholic Church the terrain of the culture wars is shifting."

 Patrick Deneen

Patrick Deneen, David A. Potenziani Memorial Associate Professor of Constitutional Studies, said, "Our left-right divide makes it difficult for the fullest dimension of Catholic social teaching to receive a full and fair hearing. So I fear reception through partisan lenses will likely result in a blinkered, partial reception that will tend to reinforce, rather than challenge, this unfortunate alignment. As long as we continue to view the problem of ecological degradation solely as a 'technical' problem, it's almost certain that we will not make any meaningful change to current trajectories."

 Jessica Hellmann

According to Jessica J. Hellmann, associate professor of biological sciences and research director for ND-GAIN, "The challenge the pope raises today must be taken up immediately by the young and the old, but as a professor I think about the challenges and opportunities confronting young people. They will be responsible for identifying and implementing solutions to environmental problems. They also must hold their elders accountable for fixing problems before they get worse, for reinventing what it means to lead a good life. They will need to understand how science and value interact and how to move between knowledge and wisdom."

 John O'Callaghan

John O'Callaghan, director of Notre Dame's Jacques Maritain Center, said that "the style of Laudato Si' is to hook the reader with the discussion of environmental waste and its impact upon the poor in order to lead to a grand Christo-centric vision of the cosmos and ourselves within it as belonging to God. That is a very traditional Catholic vision, reflected in Augustine's Confessions and Aquinas' Summa Theologica, not to mention Bonaventure, Dante and Thérèse of Lisieux, all of whom Pope Francis relies upon in the encyclical. It's as if Pope Francis were putting people on the train in Manhattan or Washington and taking them to Bethlehem.

"So it is a mistake to describe Laudato Si' as merely an environmental or economic encyclical," O'Callaghan said. "It's an evangelical offering of the Good News, a vision of how the Incarnate Logos of God should change everything we think about and do in the world. The encyclical's Catholic vision just keeps building to the end, where it is overwhelming. It's likely that many secular people will jump off Pope Francis' train when they see where it's going, but perhaps some won't. Sadly it seems some Catholics in New York and Washington have refused even to get on the train. For them, it's 'Mater si, Magistra, no.'"

To contact an expert, visit news.nd.edu/for-the-media/nd-experts/papal-experts/.
 Michael O. Garvey http://news.nd.edu/news/58749-notre-dame-faculty-read-and-react-to-new-encyclical-on-climate-change/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58726 2015-06-17T14:30:00-04:00 2015-06-17T14:33:05-04:00 Researchers discover massive genome switch in one generation
 Rhagoletis pomonella, or "apple maggot"

A team of biologists from the University of Notre Dame, Rice University and three other schools has discovered that an agricultural pest that began plaguing U.S. apple growers in the 1850s likely did so after undergoing extensive and genome-wide changes in a single generation.

This new result, which appears online this week in Ecology Letters, came from applying the latest tools of genome sequencing and analysis to preserved evidence from experiments carried out at Notre Dame in the 1990s. The research focuses on the fruit fly Rhagoletis pomonella, or "apple maggot," a North American native that lays its eggs inside the fruit of the hawthorn tree. In the 1850s, a splinter group of Rhagoletis began laying eggs in apples in upstate New York, a move that required the flies to adapt the timing of their annual egg-laying cycle to match the fruiting time of their new hosts.

"Today, there are two forms of Rhagoletis pomonella in the U.S., the ancestral form that times its life cycle to the hawthorn tree and a derived form that is timed to apple trees, which fruit about 3-4 weeks earlier," Scott Egan, the study's lead author, formerly of Notre Dame and currently an evolutionary biologist in the Department of BioSciences at Rice, said. "These two forms have evolved very distinct differences and are on the path to evolving into two new species, and because they have a single generation per year, we know that all of the differences between the two has happened in no more than 170 generations."

The two populations are also known to interbreed. In a given year, about 5 percent move between populations. For Egan and other biologists who specialize in studying the process of speciation, continued "gene flow" between the divergent populations raises significant questions about whether and how R. pomonella may eventually evolve into two species.

"According to theory, this amount of gene flow should be enough to counteract the processes of divergent selection that are driving the populations apart," Egan said. "However, if natural selection is strong, and the impacts of selection are genome-wide, the two might diverge even in the face of this much-continued gene flow."

To get a sense of how quickly the two populations diverged genetically, Egan and colleagues from Notre Dame, the University of Sheffield in Great Britain, the University of Florida and Kansas State University conducted the most extensive genetic analysis of R. pomonella yet undertaken.

 Jeffrey Feder

Borrowing a page from criminal forensics, the team applied the latest tools of genomic science to experimental samples that had been preserved in a freezer at the lab of Notre Dame biologist Jeffrey Feder since the mid-1990s. At the time of the initial experiment, genetic technology allowed Feder and colleagues to study only a handful of changes across the genome.

"We collected flies from native hawthorn trees, divided the flies into two groups and raised the flies under haw- and apple-like conditions in the lab," Feder said.

By raising the ancestral population under both conditions, Feder and colleagues experimentally replicated the host shift observed in New York in the 1850s.

In 2012, Egan and colleagues sequenced a portion of the genome for individuals from the earlier lab experiment and measured the differences between individuals that had been raised under haw- versus apple-like conditions. The team compiled a database of more than 5 billion nucleotide base pairs to examine the genetic differences between all the populations. Of particular interest were the sites across the genome where the DNA sequences differed from one population to the other at a single site. This type of genetic variation within a species is called a polymorphism, and "single nucleotide polymorphisms," or SNPs, are the smallest unit of polymorphic variation.

"For the ancestral flies that had been raised for one generation on the apple cycle, we documented changes in more than 32,000 SNPs," Egan said. "Overall, we found that the genetic changes undergone by this first generation accounted for up to 70 percent of all the genetic changes that had occurred between the two populations since the 1850s."

"The changes observed in both experimental and natural populations of R. pomonella underscore the importance of ecological selection at early stages of divergence and call for further integration of studies of speciation and genome divergence," Kansas State University's Greg Ragland, co-lead author of the study, said.

For example, when the team compared the genetic changes from the "selection experiment" with the genome-wide differences between apple and haw populations in nature, they found striking similarities. Specifically, the direction and magnitude of the 32,000 SNPs were similar to the observed differences between the ancestral and divergent populations in nature.

"By combining genomic data from experimental and natural populations, we were able to quantify the total genome-wide impact of selection," Feder said.

He said the effects are widespread across the R. pomonella genome because in addition to direct effects on genes that underlie important traits, there were also indirect effects in which changes in one gene prompted changes elsewhere through a process called "linkage disequilibrium."

Egan said previous research on R. pomonella provided other clues as to why the genetic shift was so widespread. For example, the traits that were under selection in the move between host plants involved many genes. In addition, R. pomonella has high levels of within-population genetic variation upon which selection easily acts. And finally, R. pomonella is more susceptible to the impact of divergent natural selection because its genome contains several "inversion areas," regions where DNA sequences are broken and realigned in the opposite order, which increases linkage disequilibrium and the total impact of selection.

The study was funded by Rice University's Huxley Faculty Fellowship in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and by the University of Notre Dame's Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics program and Environmental Change Initiative. Study co-authors include Lauren Assour, Glen Hood and Scott Emrich, all of Notre Dame; Thomas Powell of the University of Florida; and Patrik Nosil of the University of Sheffield.

The Ecology Letters paper is available online here.

Contact: Jeff Feder, 574-631-4158, email@example.com
 William G. Gilroy http://news.nd.edu/news/58726-researchers-discover-massive-genome-switch-in-one-generation/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58633 2015-06-16T14:00:00-04:00 2015-06-17T11:19:18-04:00 Mary Galvin appointed dean of College of Science
 Mary Galvin

An accomplished scientist with extensive experience in the academic, government and private sectors, Mary E. Galvin has been appointed the William K. Warren Foundation Dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame by Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the University's president.

Galvin, who has served as director for the Division of Materials Research in the National Science Foundation (NSF) since 2013, will assume her new responsibilities Aug. 17. She also will be appointed professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She succeeds Gregory Crawford, who will expand Notre Dame initiatives in California as vice president and associate provost, effective July 1.

"After a nationwide search, Mary Galvin rose to the top from among many outstanding candidates as the person to lead our College of Science into the future," Father Jenkins said. "She brings leadership experience in various realms, an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to Notre Dame's mission, all of which make her an ideal leader for the college and the University.

"We welcome her and look forward to many years of close collaboration."

Thomas G. Burish, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost of the University, added: "Mary Galvin has a wealth of research, teaching and mentoring, and leadership experiences in academia, industry and government. She combines these with high standards, an impressive work ethic, the ability to relate to disparate disciplines and research areas, and a strong belief in Notre Dame's Catholic identity. I speak on behalf of the entire search committee in expressing our enthusiasm about and gratitude for her agreeing to serve as dean."

Galvin, who earned her master's and doctoral degrees in polymers and materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said: "It is a privilege to be able to serve the talented faculty in the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame. Their dedication to teaching and scholarship is inspiring. I am excited about working with them to achieve the goal of making Notre Dame a premier research university with an unchangeable Catholic character and uncompromised dedication to undergraduate education.

"Fundamental science is critical to solving many of the problems faced by society and the nation. I believe the College of Science faculty will play a significant role in producing this knowledge."

In her current position with the NSF, Galvin manages a $300 million budget and is responsible for setting scientific priorities. She previously was program director for the NSF's Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers and a program manager with the Materials Chemistry Program in the U.S. Department of Energy.

Galvin earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry at Manhattanville College and did graduate work in chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After earning her doctoral degree from MIT, she joined Bell Laboratories, where she served for 14 years and became a distinguished member of the technical staff. In 1998, Galvin joined the University of Delaware as a professor of materials science and engineering and in 2004 was promoted to distinguished professor.

At both Bell Labs and the University of Delaware, Galvin established research programs on the structure and property relationships that govern the performance of organic materials in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), photovoltaic cells and thin film transistors. She has co-authored many publications in this area as well as on inorganic/organic nanocomposites and polymer blends, and has given numerous invited talks at national and international meetings. She currently holds five U.S. patents.

In 2005, Galvin joined Air Products and Chemicals Inc., serving as technical lead for the development of new electroactive organic products and later becoming a member of the Technology Leadership Team, where she was responsible for creating a vision that could develop new products by leveraging research and development done at global universities and national laboratories.

Galvin is a fellow in the American Physical Society, was elected to the board of directors of the Materials Research Society and has served on National Research Council panels, including the Board of Chemical Science and Technology.

Now celebrating 150 years of science research and education, Notre Dame's College of Science was established in 1865 and currently includes 282 faculty, 450 graduate students and 1,683 undergraduates. Over the last decade, the college has experienced significant growth in its undergraduate, graduate and research programs.

Opened in 2006, the Jordan Hall of Science is dedicated to undergraduate teaching and research, and includes a rooftop telescope and the Digital Visualization Theater. The college has subsequently developed undergraduate minors in sustainability and in actuarial science and an undergraduate major in neuroscience and behavior in collaboration with the Department of Psychology.

In 2010, the college formed the Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics and, in collaboration with the Mendoza College of Business and the College of Engineering, launched a master of science in engineering, science, technology and entrepreneurship. Quickly following were the new master of science in global health, the master of science in patent law, and the Integrated Biomedical Sciences Program in which students earn interdisciplinary doctorates.

In 2012, the college acquired a new nuclear accelerator, the first accelerator funded by NSF in nuclear physics in nearly a quarter century. Over the past year, the college also has developed the Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, the Warren Center for Drug Development and Discovery and the DNA Learning Center, and expanded existing facilities such as the ND Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility (ND-LEEF) and the Notre Dame Integrated Imaging Facility.

On the horizon — both in the campus skyline and the near future — is the 2016 opening of McCourtney Hall, a 220,000-square-foot building dedicated to research. It will house and create collaborative space for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Science and the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the College of Engineering.
 Dennis Brown http://news.nd.edu/news/58633-mary-galvin-appointed-dean-of-college-of-science/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58595 2015-06-12T15:20:00-04:00 2015-06-12T15:28:19-04:00 Lou Holtz to address ACE educators at 2015 commencement ceremony
 Lou Holtz

College football coaching legend Lou Holtz, along with his wife, Beth Holtz, will receive this year's Notre Dame Prize for Catholic Education, and will serve as the principal speaker at the 2015 Commencement Ceremony of the University of Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) on July 11 (Saturday).

"We are blessed that Coach Holtz has accepted our invitation to celebrate and give thanks for the years of service to the ministry of Catholic education of our ACE graduates," said Rev. Timothy R. Scully, C.S.C., founder of ACE and Hackett Family Director of Notre Dame's Institute for Educational Initiatives.

"Throughout his career, Coach Holtz has shown a powerful commitment to form leaders of strong character and evangelical virtues, and his dedication and love for Our Lady's University are unmatched," Father Scully said. "His witness will resonate deeply with all members of the ACE community."

At the annual Commencement exercises, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, the University will bestow 108 graduate degrees upon the next generation of Catholic school teachers and leaders who completed their periods of formation with ACE.

A total of 83 ACE Teaching Fellows graduates, who pursued their two years of studies — while teaching in Catholic K-12 schools in underserved areas around the country — will receive the Master of Education (M. Ed.) degree. Twenty-five graduates from ACE's Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, whose 26 months of formation prepared them to be principals and other leaders in Catholic education, will receive a master of arts in educational leadership.

Christine Maziar, University vice president and senior associate provost, will confer the degrees.

Holtz said he is excited to address the ACE graduates, most of whom will continue their careers as educators and leaders serving children from all backgrounds, many of them in Catholic schools.

"I think it is marvelous the difference the ACE program has made in the lives of so many young people," Holtz said. "The sacrifice these educators have made to help younger people has been invaluable."

Holtz coached the Fighting Irish football team from 1986 to 1996, and he led the team to a national championship in 1988. He also received an honorary degree from the University in 2011. He later became a football analyst for ESPN and remains a sought-after motivational speaker.

Contact: Bill Schmitt, ACE, 574-631-3893, email@example.com
 Bill Schmitt http://news.nd.edu/news/58595-lou-holtz-to-address-ace-educators-at-2015-commencement-ceremony/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58588 2015-06-12T11:20:00-04:00 2015-06-12T11:23:44-04:00 Time on retailers' side: Impulse purchases rise the longer shoppers are in store

Admit it: you've done it. We all have. You go to the grocery store with a short list of essentials you need to pick up, only to find impulse purchases like sea salt caramel gelato and Cool Ranch Doritos when you unpack your grocery bags at home.

It's a phenomenon well-known to consumers and heavily researched by economists and social scientists. However, University of Notre Dame marketing researcher Timothy Gilbride and colleagues shed new light on this behavior in a new Journal of Marketing paper.

Gilbride, Jeffrey Inman of the University of Pittsburgh and Karen Melville Stilley of Market Rise Consulting found that shoppers are more likely to make unplanned versus planned purchase later in their shopping trip.

"So, there is a good reason why the celebrity gossip magazines and candy are located closer to the check-out aisles," Gilbride said.

He notes that over the course of a trip to the supermarket, shoppers are more likely to make unplanned versus planned purchases. For some shoppers, early in the shopping trip, making an unplanned selection increases the probability that the next selection will be planned.

"This is consistent with 'self-regulation' theory: Shoppers want to keep to their budget and or the items on their lists, so when they make an unplanned selection, they get back on course by being more deliberate about choosing a planned item for their next selection," Gilbride said. "However, it's hard to keep to those shopping goals with so much temptation around you. This is referred to as 'resource depletion.' It takes mental effort to keep to our goals, and over time, we get tired and are less conscientious, or just give up.

"Even though early in the trip an unplanned purchase increases the probability of a planned purchase, later in the trip an unplanned purchase increases the probability of another unplanned purchase. This shopping behavior was more prevalent for shoppers with smaller budgets for the shopping trip and presumably more specific goals, such as buying food for dinner or picking up a couple of needed toiletries."

However, Gilbride explains that another theory called "cueing theory" suggests that when a shopper makes an unplanned selection it acts as a cue, or prompts the shopper to remember other products that she might have forgotten to put on her list.

"This effect is believed to begin right from the beginning of the shopping trip, and the longer you are shopping, the more likely you are to remember items," he said. "In this instance, an unplanned purchase always increases the probability of making another subsequent unplanned purchase. We found this theory described shoppers with moderate or medium-sized shopping budgets, who are more likely shopping for a week's worth of groceries."

Both the self-regulation and the cueing theories suggest that shoppers are more likely to make unplanned versus planned purchase later in their shopping trip, and this is what the researchers found.

Gilbride believes consumers are actually pretty good at keeping to their budgets, and they know they will make unplanned purchases. In fact, a consumer's overall budget for a shopping trip will include an amount for items "on the shopping list" as well as an amount for unplanned items they know they will encounter while shopping.

"We did not explicitly test to see if unplanned purchases are considered to be 'good' or 'bad' by consumers, but consumers should be cognizant of this tendency to make more unplanned instead of planned purchases as the shopping trip progresses," Gilbride said. "Keeping track of how much you have spent on planned versus unplanned items compared to your trip budget will likely boost your willpower and help you control your overall spending. I anticipate that we will see a lot more mobile apps that will allow us to enter in our shopping lists, use our phone to scan items as we select them, and tell us how much we have spent on planned and unplanned items."

The study's findings also have implications for retailers.

"First, our results suggest that in-store sampling or other in-store promotions should be located more deeply in the trip when consumers are more receptive to unplanned purchases," Gilbride said. "Second, stores have the opportunity to use more data to customize their offerings to consumers.

"For instance, our results show that a shopper's past data can be used to identify items more likely to be bought on a planned versus unplanned basis; these would be the beginnings of an individualized shopping list proposed by the retailer. To the extent that retailers provide mobile shopping apps and harness that data on a real-time basis, tailored offerings can be made during the shopping trip."

He also believes that the study's results suggest that shoppers would be especially receptive to offers for a "fun" unplanned item after a shopper purchases a planned, "less fun" item.

"So a shopping app might offer a coupon for a half gallon of ice cream, if it's not on the shopping list, after the shopper has selected a planned carton of eggs."

As in many new discoveries about consumer behavior, Gilbride believes that retailers will have to ask themselves if they want to "play the long game" and use this information and emerging technology to enhance consumers' overall shopping experience, such as helping them to keep to their budgets while still enjoying finding unplanned items, or simply try to increase the total number of purchases on any given trip.

Gilbride's research focuses on the development and application of Bayesian statistical methods in novel or complex data sets found in marketing. In this paper, he, Inman and Stilley used fairly sophisticated statistical methods to test behavioral theories in an actual consumer setting.

Contact: Timothy Gilbride, 574-631-9987, firstname.lastname@example.com
 William G. Gilroy http://news.nd.edu/news/58588-impulse-purchases-rise-the-longer-shoppers-are-in-store/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58531 2015-06-11T13:50:00-04:00 2015-06-11T13:58:03-04:00 Catholic high school teachers debunk science vs. religion myth

Science and religion teachers from Catholic high schools nationwide are meeting at the University of Notre Dame June 14-19 (Sunday-Friday) to debunk the notion that their academic disciplines contradict each other.

The week-long seminar, titled Science and Religion: Strangers, Rivals, or Partners in the Search for Truth? and hosted by Notre Dame's Institute for Church Life (ICL), has attracted some 90 Catholic high school teachers of biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics and religion from 23 dioceses from across the country.

According to ICL director John C. Cavadini, what Pope Benedict XVI described as "the friendship between science and faith" is a long-held Christian belief despite the fact that conflicts and misunderstandings over the past four centuries have created a gulf between science and religion.

"The myth that science and religion are, and must be, in conflict is just that, a myth. It is nevertheless one of the most potent causes of the destruction of religious faith, especially of young people," Cavadini said. "This seminar for high school teachers hopes to equip them for exposing this myth for what it is, and for replacing it with a more constructive and compelling account of the relation between science and religion."

Cavadini hopes that teachers participating in the seminar will learn how to incorporate what they learn here into their regular classes in science and religion. "We want science teachers to learn how theological insights can be used to inform some of the typical topics in biology and physics courses, while religion teachers will learn how scientific findings can help inform and enhance their appreciation of God's creation and means of passing that appreciation on to their students," he said.

With Cavadini, other seminar faculty include Rev. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., professor of molecular microbiology and genetics at Providence College; Rev. John M. Braverman, S.J., professor of biology at St. Joseph's University; and Rev. Guy J. Consolmagno, S.J., curator of the Vatican Observatory.

The Science and Religion Seminar has been made possible with a grant from the John Templeton Foundation and supplemental funding from Catholic Extension.

Contact: John Cavadini, 574-631-5510, firstname.lastname@example.com
 Michael O. Garvey http://news.nd.edu/news/58531-catholic-high-school-teachers-debunk-science-vs-religion-myth/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58432 2015-06-08T14:00:00-04:00 2015-06-12T14:22:45-04:00 Notre Dame scholars expect new encyclical to shine 'holy light' on climate change

In 1927, when it became evident that Gov. Alfred E. ("Al") Smith of New York, a Catholic, would be the Democratic Party's candidate for the presidency, a widely read editorial cited numerous papal encyclicals to question the worthiness of a conscientious Catholic for the nation's highest office. When he read it, Smith's reported reaction to the article became famous: "What the hell is an encyclical?"

Controversial even before its release, Pope Francis' forthcoming encyclical on the environment, titled "Laudato Si" ("Praised be You"), has elicited similarly indecorous responses, including questions about whether the environment has anything to do with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Theologians and scientists at the University of Notre Dame insist that Laudato Si, however contemporary the issues it will engage, precisely concerns Church teaching, and they look forward to hearing what Pope Francis has to say. (For a list of scholars available to comment, visit news.nd.edu/for-the-media/nd-experts/papal-experts/.)

Encyclicals are formal letters issued by a pope to the universal Church concerning moral, doctrinal and disciplinary matters. While Pope Francis' predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, both called for restraint on consumption and care for the earth, Pope Francis, from the very first days of his papacy, has amplified their teaching, making clear his conviction that the world's 1.2 billion Catholics have a moral responsibility to protect the poor in a climate-changing world.

 John C. Cavadini

According to John C. Cavadini, professor of theology and director of Notre Dame's Institute for Church Life, "Some of the hysteria over the encyclical about to be released is due to confusion over the genre. In an encyclical, the pope speaks in a very formal way, and with a relatively high level of authority, but not always in a way that requires adherence to certain doctrines or teachings. So, one thing that worries people is that Pope Francis will be 'canonizing' a scientific theory, and that science is beyond the competence and authority of the pope. That is true — that is, that science is beyond the competence and authority of the pope. However, it is incumbent upon the pope or anyone else in the Church to take into account what seems to be the most compelling scientific data and interpretation of that data, the majority opinion among scientists themselves, when making recommendations, and this is precisely what it appears the pope will be doing.

"He doesn't thereby canonize or dogmatize a scientific theory, which by its very nature is subject to falsification and revision. But it is within the pope's competence and authority to call attention to our moral responsibilities and duties in the face of the best scientific theory out there, especially when the consequences of not doing so are serious or even drastic, and where silence could be interpreted as scandalous. The pope has the responsibility to speak up for the poor, for instance. He can exhort people to take seriously the burden on the poor that global warming is already causing, and to give the benefit of the doubt to courses of action that would tend toward alleviation of their plight by alleviating the man-made causes known to damage the environment and reasonably thought to be contributing to global warming, even if not proved."

 Lawrence Cunningham

Lawrence Cunningham, professor emeritus of theology, agrees on the appropriateness of such a papal exhortation. "Pope Francis's letter on the environment," he said, "reflects the profound Catholic conviction that creation manifests the glory of God and is a free gift given to humanity. Care of the world given to us by God is both a solemn obligation and fundamental for human flourishing."

 Celia Deane-Drummond

Noting that Praised Be You will be the first ever encyclical to be dedicated to environmental issues, Celia Deane-Drummond, professor of theology, called it "appropriate for a pope who, from the very beginning of his ministry, identified himself with a three-fold mission of attention to issues of poverty, peacemaking and planet. It is appropriate, too, that the title of this encyclical is to be drawn from the famous Canticle attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. But he will be keen to show how environmental protection is not a new insight for the Church, but builds on Catholic social teaching of his predecessors that included iconic ideas such as attention to human ecology, ecological conversion, social justice and solidarity.

"Given that the signs of our times portray climate change as a harbinger of the end, the message of the Gospel is one of hope, joy, praise and trust in God's providential care of creation. But that providential care is mediated through a deeper understanding of our particular human responsibilities. Pope Francis has, in a way that is in startling contrast to expectations, demonstrated his commitment to such action by living out and not just speaking out his message. This brings an authenticity to his words that will be hard to resist."

 Jessica Hellmann

Jessica J. Hellmann, associate professor of biological sciences and research director for the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN), the world's leading indicator of countries best prepared to deal with the droughts, superstorms and other natural disasters that climate change can cause, said that "our research at ND-GAIN illustrates a key theme we expect to see in the encyclical: that risk from climate change is spread unequally around the world with developing countries more vulnerable to and less prepared for climate change than wealthier countries.

"For example," Hellmann said, "we've shown that if recent gains in adaptive capacity in low-income countries were to continue at their current rate, it would take more than 100 years for poor countries, as a group, to reach the capacity of the richest countries today. We need to bend this curve through adaptation innovations, significant adaptation financing and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Without these investments, human and natural, many systems around the world will decline, sometimes to disastrous levels. The fact that climate change is largely caused by emissions from developed countries implies a humanitarian responsibility of the wealthy to aid the poor."

 Joyce Coffee

Joyce Coffee, managing director of ND-GAIN, expects the new encyclical to emphasize that responsibility.

"Climate change is creating the humanitarian crisis of our time," Coffee said. "The biblical proportion of climate change's shocks and stress is causing disproportionate harm to those already suffering from poverty, illness and other inequities. Droughts, food insecurity, superstorms and civil conflicts are increasingly impacting poverty and injustice, and that is why Pope Francis' leadership is important. It shines a holy light on these injustices, motivating us to help the world's poor and disenfranchised to adapt to the unprecedented and overwhelming impacts of climate change. We must do so in service to justice for human solidarity and concern for the common good."

Contacts: John Cavadini, 574-631-5510, firstname.lastname@example.com; Lawrence Cunningham, 574-400-9733, firstname.lastname@example.com; Jessica Hellmann, email@example.com; Celia Deane-Drummond, 574-631-7666, firstname.lastname@example.com; Joyce Coffee, 312-894-9028, firstname.lastname@example.com
 Michael O. Garvey http://news.nd.edu/news/58432-notre-dame-scholars-expect-a-new-encyclical-to-shine-holy-light-on-climate-change/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58284 2015-06-04T19:00:00-04:00 2015-06-04T20:55:57-04:00 Alumnus Richard Corbett makes $35 million in gifts for academic building and football coaching endowment
 Richard Corbett

Two gifts totaling $35 million from University of Notre Dame alumnus Richard Corbett will underwrite the construction of a 280,000-square-foot building on the east side of Notre Dame Stadium and endow the head football coaching position at the University.

A $25 million gift is in support of Corbett Family Hall, which will house the Departments of Anthropology and Psychology and a digital media center, and the remaining $10 million will establish the coaching endowment.

"For many generations of Notre Dame faculty and students to come, Corbett Family Hall will represent a full integration of teaching, research and advanced technology on our campus," said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame's president. "Likewise, the endowment of the coaching position reflects Dick Corbett's insight about the ways in which athletics contributes to Notre Dame's larger commitment to educating students in mind, body and spirit.

"We are humbled by and tremendously grateful for these extraordinary gifts from Dick."

Construction of Corbett Family Hall began in November and will be completed in August 2017. The University recently announced a gift from the Duncan family of Denver for construction of a building on the west side of the stadium for student life initiatives.

"The new buildings surrounding Notre Dame Stadium, as well as the other projects we have begun, or will soon begin, are tangible evidence of our commitment to the traditional residential college campus," said John Affleck-Graves, executive vice president of the University. "All of us at Notre Dame are deeply appreciative of Dick's vision and generosity."

A digital media center to support faith-based, academic, performance and athletics programming will occupy the first level of Corbett Family Hall. It will include a main studio with attached audio/video control rooms, a teaching studio, a suite of editing and mixing studios, a classroom and space for other instruction and offices.

The second level will house the Department of Anthropology. Features include space for seminar classes, meetings and tutoring; offices for faculty and graduate researchers; and multi-function labs, including specially designed teaching and research labs for human biology and genetics, archaeology, and human osteology. The department provides multidimensional inquiry into what it is to be human — past and present, nearby and distant — and includes six research clusters: anthropological sciences; childhood, families and learning; development, violence and peace; evolutionary anthropology and health; social complexity, identity and power; and ritual, belief, practice and meaning.

Now housed in seven locations on and off campus, the Department of Psychology will occupy the third through fifth levels of Corbett Family Hall and will include research laboratories, computing and teaching space, offices and space for future expansion. The department offers graduate programs in cognitive, clinical, developmental and quantitative psychology, joint doctoral programs in peace studies and computer science/engineering, and an undergraduate major that emphasizes hands-on research. Among many areas of focus are children and families, marriage, memory and attention disorders.

"Thanks to Dick, we can now create a central home with classrooms, labs, offices and common spaces for two academic departments — psychology and anthropology — that are experiencing dynamic growth," said Thomas G. Burish, Charles and Jill Fischer Provost. "The entire University will also be well served with the new digital media center, which will consolidate several digital programs and resources into one location. In these ways and many more, Corbett Family Hall will both support and expand the work of faculty and students who will research, study and collaborate in the new building."

The top three levels of the building will feature hospitality space for football weekends and throughout the year, including two clubs, premium seating for football, open-air terraces, food and beverage service and, on the top level, a press box for working media.

The head football coaching position is the third at Notre Dame to be endowed, following an announcement in February for the endowment of the head women's basketball coaching position and in May for the men's lacrosse coach.

"Dick has always been a loyal supporter to the University of Notre Dame and its global family," said Jack Swarbrick, vice president and director of athletics. "He serves on Notre Dame's Gift Planning Advancement Committee, which plays a vital role toward the advancement of the University's mission. Dick possesses a near-immeasurable desire for excellence in all areas — education, athletics, faith and community. This remarkably generous gift will help the University continue its commitment to provide its students with the finest college experience."

Brian Kelly will be the first Corbett Family Head Football Coach. A veteran of 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he brings a championship tradition to his sixth year at Notre Dame.

Currently the third-winningest active coach in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision with 216 victories, Kelly has guided the Irish to 45 wins over his first five years in South Bend. Only Lou Holtz collected more victories (46) over his first five seasons at Notre Dame. His 139 victories as a head coach since 2001 are more than all but two active FBS head coaches — Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Ohio State's Urban Meyer.

The only coach to lead the Irish to at least eight victories over each of his first five seasons, Kelly was the 23rd college coach to reach 200 career victories with at least five years of service or 50 victories at a major college. He was the second youngest to reach the 200-career win plateau. The only two-time winner of the Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (2009 and 2012), Kelly was the first coach in school history to lead the Irish to bowl games during each of his first five seasons.

In 2012, Kelly became the first coach to oversee a program that earned the number one ranking in the polls while also standing first in NCAA Graduation Success Rate and playing for the Bowl Championship Series title. That 2012 season marked Notre Dame's first undefeated regular season since 1988 and its highest final national ranking since 1993.

"I'm honored and quite humbled to be a part of this incredible gift from Dick," Kelly said. "He has offered the University of Notre Dame and its football program an incredible gesture that will help so many people on this campus. His generosity, vision and unyielding support reinforce our University's commitment to provide all of its students with a truly unique and exceptional college experience. This further fosters Notre Dame's commitment to excellence in all areas.

"I really enjoyed spending time with Dick and his wife, Cornie, last month. Their passion for sport, community and family is contagious. They've both accomplished so much in their respective lives. As a former campaign aide myself, I'm fascinated by Dick's career in politics, where he served both John F. and Robert F. Kennedy, and Cornie remains one of Tampa's most significant community and civic leaders."

Notre Dame has been a part of the Corbett family history for more than 90 years.

"My father, brother and I have proudly and boldly worn our blue and gold in all that we have done," Corbett said. "We have sought to support the tradition of excellence in academic, athletic, personal and professional performance. We are very pleased to help further build Notre Dame's commitment to the dynamic blend of academic and athletic enrichment that continues to be a beacon of this nation's values and sustainability."

Corbett earned a bachelor's degree in history from Notre Dame and was class president his senior year. After graduation, he worked on the John F. Kennedy presidential campaign and then in the White House. He earned a master of business administration degree from Harvard University and went on to serve as a financial manager for the Kennedy family in New York and business manager of Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign.

Corbett now is chief executive officer and president of Concorde Companies, a real estate investment firm in Tampa, Florida.

Corbett is chair of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservative Commission and its longest-serving full-time board member. He is also a member of the Florida Council of 100 and the Republican Governors Association Executive Round Table Group. He is a former board member of Tampa General Hospital and its Foundation, Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry, the Hillsborough Education Foundation and the Florida Council on Economic Education, and he has served on the national finance committee for Gov. Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

In celebration of the 50th reunion of the Notre Dame Class of 1960, Dick provided a generous matching gift in 2010 for the class' scholarship fund. He also has been a supporter of Notre Dame's Sorin Society and MBA Program.

The Corbetts are the parents of four adult children and have two grandchildren.
 Dennis Brown http://news.nd.edu/news/58284-alumnus-richard-corbett-makes-35-million-in-gifts-for-academic-building-and-football-coaching-endowment/ tag:news.nd.edu,2005:News/58228 2015-06-01T13:00:00-04:00 2015-06-02T09:59:39-04:00 Notre Dame researcher part of team showing that 'humanized' mice can be used to study malaria

University of Notre Dame researcher Mike Ferdig is part of team of researchers who have demonstrated that so-called "humanized" mice can be an effective model to study parasites that cause malaria and resistance to malarial drugs. Their study appears in the June 1 edition of the journal Nature Methods.

Ferdig and fellow researchers from the University of Notre Dame joined with colleagues from the Center for Infectious Disease Research in Seattle and Texas Biomed in San Antonio to demonstrate that a mouse that has been genetically modified to express a human liver can serve as a surrogate "human host" to support the development of sibling malaria parasites (offspring) resulting from a genetic cross between two different parasite parent clones.

"Genetic crosses between parents that differ for a trait of interest are a powerful tool in biology, especially in organisms like fruit flies, yeast and Mendel's famous pea plants for mapping the location of genes that make these traits," Ferdig said. "But for the deadly pathogen that causes human malaria, a human host is required for the parasites derived from blood-fed mosquitoes to complete its essential 'liver stage' development to produce these genetic offspring."

In the mid-1980s and over the ensuing 30 years, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were able to generate three genetic crosses using chimpanzees with their spleens surgically removed in place of a human host. Sibling parasites derived in this way produced major breakthroughs in malaria research, including the identification of the gene that caused resistance to cholorquine, a powerful drug that was on track to eradicate malaria from the earth until drug resistance emerged. In spite of their value for research discovery, the challenges and expense of working with chimpanzees were daunting. Recently new NIH policies are phasing out the use chimps for medical research, closing the door entirely for making these genetic crosses.

Ferdig and his fellow collaborators have opened a new door by demonstrating that humanized mice can play this role. In a matter of months they put their put their distinct expertise together to generate three genetic crosses in these mice and characterize their chromosomal organization to show that large numbers of offspring with unique genetic profiles are being produced.

The Seattle researchers had previously mastered the technique of using these humanized mice to study liver-stage malaria. Their standard approach was to collect the infective stage of a single strain of parasite from mosquitoes that had fed on an infected blood meal in a controlled laboratory setting and inject these into the humanized mice.

"In the new Nature Methods paper, we mix different strains of parasites, one resistant to drug and the other susceptible, to get Mendelian recombination in the mosquito prior to injecting them into the mouse," Ferdig said. "Consequently, we derive a set of siblings that include both sensitive and resistant types. My lab has always studied genetics, relying on the old chimp crosses, so it was a matter of putting our heads together, starting with a conversation at a conference in 2012, and combining our expertise. We then joined forces with the group in Texas to do genome sequencing to 'map' all of the recombination events, meaning how each genome of the progeny offspring differ from each other."

By sequencing these parasite genomes across all the siblings the researchers will be able to find the mutations that cause important traits. These include new kinds of drug resistance mutations such as those contributing to resistance to the drug Artemisinin that is now sweeping through Southeast Asia and threatening the most important existing control strategies against dangerous multi-drug resistant forms of the parasite.

"We intend to optimize this method of making new crosses routinely in the lab, so that any new terrifying parasite, extra virulent or multi-drug resistant, can be brought from clinics to our labs and immediately put into a genetic cross to identify the cause of the trait and to indicate new ways to stop the parasite," Ferdig said. "We hope to develop this system to be a powerful resource accessible to the worldwide malaria research community."

Ferdig is associate chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Notre Dame and a member of the University's Eck Institute for Global Health. The Eck Institute for Global Health recognizes health as a fundamental human right and endeavors to promote research, training, and service to advance health standards for all people, especially people in low-and middle-income countries, who are disproportionately impacted by preventable diseases.

Contact: Mike Ferdig, 574-631-9973, firstname.lastname@example.com
 William G. Gilroy http://news.nd.edu/news/58228-notre-dame-researcher-part-of-team-showing-that-humanized-mice-can-be-used-to-study-malaria/