Theology and science faculty to speak at Vatican conference on Laudato si’
Two University of Notre Dame faculty members will participate in a Vatican conference titled “Radical Ecological Conversion after Laudato si’: Discovering the Intrinsic Value of All Creatures, Human and Non-human.” Sponsored by the embassies of Georgia, Germany and the Netherlands to the Holy See, this gathering will be held at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome March 7-8. Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, will deliver the opening address.
Notre Dame among top producers of Fulbright students for fourth straight year
Twenty-nine University of Notre Dame students and alumni were awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants during the 2017-18 academic year, second among all research institutions in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Established in 1964, The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, providing more than 380,000 students with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to solutions to shared international concerns based on academic merit and leadership potential.
Notre Dame Research announces 2018 Internal Grant Program recipients
Twenty faculty members from five of the colleges and schools have been awarded grants through the Notre Dame Research Internal Grant Program (IGP). Recipients who applied were awarded Faculty Research Support Regular Grants, Faculty Research Support Initiation Grants, Rapid Response Grants, and other internal funding.
In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Morton S. Fuchs
Morton S. Fuchs, professor emeritus in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame, died Dec. 31 in Surprise, Arizona, after a long illness. His career at Notre Dame spanned more than four decades and his influence can still be felt in the department. From 1981 to 1984, Fuchs served as chair of the Department of Microbiology and in 1984 he accepted additional responsibilities as chair of the Department of Biology. The following year, Fuchs was instrumental in guiding the merger of the two departments into one, unified Department of Biological Sciences. In 2001, Fuchs earned emeritus status.
Events to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Walk the Walk Week
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the University of Notre Dame will host “Walk the Walk Week,” a weeklong celebration of King and his legacy, from Jan. 15 to 22, with events including a prayer service, lectures, film screenings and a celebration luncheon.
Growing Beauty: Tree survey marks 175 years of natural beauty at Notre Dame
After trekking through the biting South Bend cold on Nov. 26, 1842, Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., first laid eyes on the 524 acres bequeathed to the Congregation of Holy Cross to build a Catholic university, admired its two lakes and surrounding forest, and started planning his ideal landscape. He may have encountered a young sycamore tree that grows behind what is now Corby Hall. Currently one of the largest trees the University of Notre Dame’s campus, it is 80 feet tall and has thick, finger-like limbs that curl toward heaven in apparent angst. And certainly Father Sorin appreciated the ash trees, oaks, hickories and maples that surrounded St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s lakes. But taming this “savage wilderness,” as one newspaper account in 1844 described the property, was necessary in order to create the pedestrian-friendly, academic utopia Father Sorin envisioned.