Student/Alumni Stories
Lisa Kelly '88 has found a way to use her skills to impact the communities of St. Joseph and Elkhart counties, serving as the co-founder and executive director of Mental Health Awareness of Michiana.
ND Founder Profile #150: Latinos’ lack of access to capital inspired this founder to launch a fast-growing angel group
Born in Gary, Indiana, in 1972 to immigrant parents from Puerto Rico, David Olivencia had a typical American childhood. He attended Catholic school. Played football, including his high school’s state champion team. He also enjoyed math and computers. One thing was different, however. All of his grandparents mainly spoke Spanish, and his extended family was bilingual. They’d come to his games...
ND Founders Profile #148: Motivated by his brother, this founder is commercializing vitally needed sensor technology for heart failure patients
RAY FRASER Company Founded: Vital View Technologies, Inc. Year Graduated: 2019 Title: Co-Founder & CEO Degree: MBA Business Administration & Management Location: Hartford, CT Residence Hall: NA As a small child, Ray Fraser’s worst nightmare was that his older brother Hugh, who had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 13 months, would go to sleep and never wake up...
Former ND-GAIN research associate brings food systems into focus at UN climate summit
Later this month, more than 70,000 participants will attend the UN climate summit in Dubai. In the months leading up to the summit, known as COP28, Mohammed Farrae, a Master of Global Affairs graduate (2022) from the Keough School of Global Affairs and former ND-GAIN research associate, has been preparing to convene key groups that will showcase climate-smart strategies for...
Abercrumbie and Morrow recognized as ACC UNITE Award recipients
JP Abercrumbie, executive associate athletics director of culture and engagement in the Athletics Department, and Justin Morrow, a 2009 Notre Dame alum and former Fighting Irish men’s soccer standout, are recent recipients of the 2023 ACC Unite Award, which was created to honor individuals affiliated with the league’s member institutions who have made an impact in the areas of racial and social...
Helping marginalized women and youth gain legal status in the U.S.
As an immigration lawyer, Elizabeth Wood ’14 witnesses daily the reasons why people leave their homes and migrate to the United States.
Alumni Association and YoungND Board announce 2023 Domer Dozen honorees
The Notre Dame Alumni Association announced its 2023 Domer Dozen cohort, honoring 12 graduates ages 32 and younger for excellence in their contributions in faith, service, learning or work — the core pillars of the Alumni Association’s mission.
Creating more equitable communities
Williams has spent her career at nonprofits that work to bring positive change to the lives of children in St. Louis and the surrounding region in Missouri.
Pioneering disability rights
July 26 is National Disability Independence Day. In this feature, we look back at a story that appeared previously in Notre Dame Magazine about the pioneering role Notre Dame played in the disability legal rights movement.
God gave me a gay son . . . and I did not always think it a blessing
Editor’s Note: This piece was written 19 years ago, by a father learning to accept his son’s homosexuality with honesty and love. It was one essay in the magazine’s 25-page exploration of a subject that has evolved since that publication, while revealing and examining important issues that endure to this day.…
ND Law alumnus Kevin Warren '90 J.D. presented with two awards over Super Bowl weekend
Photo credit: MaryKate Drews
Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren ‘90 J.D. received two prestigious awards over Super Bowl weekend – the Minorities in Sports Business Recognition and the Steinberg DeNicola Humanitarian Award. The latter honors Warren's commitment to addressing community issues within the NFL, particularly in his initiatives supporting pediatric cancer.…
Faculty, staff, students, and alumni welcome the Year of the Dragon
Expand your understanding of Lunar New Year with a fun toolkit as well as events on campus and in the community.
Creative Writing MFA Alumni Spotlight: Sami Schalk ('10)
Dr. Sami Schalk's ('10) second book, Black Disability Politics, was published by Duke University Press in 2023. Kimberly Springer (author of Living for the Revolution: Black Feminist Organiztaions, 1968-1980) argues that Dr. Schalk's latest book challenges " myriad assumptions about disability activism and Black social movements."
Creating pathways of opportunity for future Black domers
Kendra Washington-Bass ’94 uses her expertise in education to empower Black students at Notre Dame as the board chair of the Black Alumni of Notre Dame.
Answering why: For Laura Burdick ’10, the question is not what you may think
Considering everything that had already gone wrong that day, no one would have blamed Laura Burdick ’10 if she hadn’t followed through on her plans — particularly the risk she wanted to take. This was Burdick’s first appearance in public in her motorized wheelchair, 10 months after the horrific accident that nearly killed her and left her mostly paralyzed....
Hispanic alumni offer advice to help students navigate college and life
The Success Stories of Hispanic Alumni virtual panel is a signature Hispanic Heritage Month event held in response to students’ desire to connect with alums who share their cultural heritage and experience.
Pavithra Rajendran ’23 LL.M. wins Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs’ graduate prize
Pavithra Rajendran, a 2023 graduate of Notre Dame Law School’s LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law and an incoming J.S.D. student, has won the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs’ Percy Buchanan Graduate Prize in the South Asia category.
Speaker and author inspires others
In continued recognition of National Disability Independence Day, we look back at a story previously published by Notre Dame Alumni Association about an alumnus who shares his story of overcoming adversity and not taking life for granted.
NDLA Board honors Vietnam veteran John Lancaster ’67, ’74 J.D.
This National Disability Independence Day, we look back at a story previously published by Notre Dame Law School about an alumnus honored for his “contributions to people with disabilities worldwide and his life’s reflection of Notre Dame values.”
The liberation of literacy: Stephane Dunn found her way with words
Stephane Dunn ’94 M.A., ’00MFA, ’00 Ph.D., has always savored reading. Her parents kept books around her childhood home in Elkhart, Indiana, and she frequently visited the public library with her older sister. She’s still in contact with her now-88-year-old sixth-grade teacher, who encouraged her to write and create skits in class, and also with her high school English teacher...
My Notre Dame wasn’t your Notre Dame
When people learn I’m a Notre Dame alumnus, most “ohh” and “ahh” about how lucky, how smart, how well off I must have been to go there. The reality was quite the opposite. My experience of Notre Dame was different — very different — from that of 99.9 percent of my classmates.
Empowering the next generation of healthcare professionals
Ashley Kyalwazi '18 is determined to help build and advocate for equitable systems of care, with a clear focus on improving health outcomes among marginalized communities.
Exposure to the venture capital world: Janaeé Wallace's ESTEEM experience
Janaeé Wallace, an ESTEEM alumna, shares how the program equipped her with valuable skills in business, technology, critical thinking, networking, and pitching, enabling her to succeed as a technical product manager and angel investor, and empowering her to drive change in the Bahamas.
Envisioning greater accessibility
By the time Danny Fritz ’22 M.S. and Riley Ellingsen ’22 M.S. graduated from the 11-month ESTEEM master’s program at Notre Dame, they had co-founded a start-up, earned seed money to start developing their innovative product, and now dedicate themselves to expanding accessibility options for people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Celebrating our Native American alumni
In honor of Native American Heritage Month, the Notre Dame Alumni Association looks back at some of our outstanding Native American alumni who have dedicated their professional and personal lives towards being a force for good in the world.
TSU and ND grad Algie Oldham became a pillar of the community
Members of the Oldham family will celebrate their connections to both Tennessee State and Notre Dame when the schools meet on the football field September 2.
Notre Dame alumni assist with University-backed Habitat project
Kristen Cooper, wife of Notre Dame alumnus Christopher Cooper, participates in a Habitat Build on Turnock Street in South Bend, in the city's Northeast Neighborhood. Wanting to preserve access to affordable housing in South Bend, the University of Notre Dame in January partnered with Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County to build as many as seven new homes in...
Making sports and exercise more accessible
In continued recognition of National Disability Independence Day, we look back at a story previously published by Notre Dame Alumni Association about an alumnus who is changing the world of adaptive sports and inclusive recreation.
A new generation of employees is looking for more than business as usual
At a recent birthday dinner, a friend asked me what she thought was an easy question. “Now that you’ve finished one decade,” she said — I was turning 31 — “what’s your vision for the next one?” I paused. For most of my 20s — perhaps even my teens — I had an answer ready for what I envisioned for...
A leap of faith
How two Christian and two Muslim young women went from Nigeria to Notre Dame, overcoming tragedy and trauma to show the world-changing power of knowledge Maijidda Haruna didn't have the words to explain how cold it was. On the day she stepped outside of O'Hare International Airport — her first time on American soil, her first time outside Nigeria,...