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Toward a more sustainable future

Erin Blasko

Growing up in a suburb of Cleveland, Audrey Miles dreamed of being a writer. Then a high school teacher introduced her to the so-called central science. “I had a really excellent chemistry teacher who made a huge difference,” she said. It may have helped that, like writing, chemistry seeks truth and understanding from within.

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One whistle changes everything

Sue Ryan

If you follow Notre Dame football, you’ve seen John Sexton on the field for every home game for the past four years. You may not have noticed him much for his first few seasons. He was usually one of the last guys to take the field. As a senior, though, John got his turn at the front of the rotation....

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Sociologist Anna Haskins studies impact of criminal legal system on racial disparities in educational outcomes

Jon Hendricks

Through her research, Anna Haskins learned that fathers who were formerly incarcerated engaged less with their children’s school than parents who haven’t been detained. She and a team of undergraduate and graduate students are now examining why that’s the case, with a goal of creating interventions that address needs of both families and schools.

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Fulfilling her purpose with hands, heart and mind

Carrie Gates Jantzen

In her dissertation research, Abigail Jorgensen found that many women associate motherhood with struggle. It’s something she can relate to. While pursuing her doctoral degree in Notre Dame’s Department of Sociology, she brought home her newborn in the midst of the pandemic. Then, five months later, she contracted COVID-19 in November 2020

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Blazing a family trail: First-generation student Karen Angeles earns doctoral degree in engineering

Brendan O'Shaughnessy

Not a single member of Karen Angeles’ extended family in southern California had ever attended college. It just didn’t seem like a realistic possibility because it had never been done before. But Angeles didn’t stop at college—she continued onward to Notre Dame to get a doctoral degree in structural engineering.

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Ground broken, mural taking shape at Foundry Field, a true community project

Erin Blasko and Carrie Gates

The proposed public-access baseball field is designed to celebrate the Foundry Giants and other underrepresented baseball teams from South Bend’s past. Active during the 1920s, the Giants were a predominantly Black baseball team whose players typically worked in the Studebaker Foundry. The team included several players who went on to play in the Negro Leagues.

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