Theodore Hesburgh

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The Rev. Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC, STD (b. May 25, 1917 at Syracuse, New York),a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, is President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame. He graduated from The Catholic University of America in 1945 having earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology.

He served as Notre Dame's President for 35 years (1952-87), the longest tenure so far. He holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for “Most Honorary Degrees”, having been awarded 150, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor on December 9, 1999 [1], the United States Military Academy's Sylvanus Thayer Award and was the first recipient of the NCAA Gerald R. Ford Award in 2004.

Hesburgh is also known for the quote: The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision.

Hesburgh served as a member of the United States Civil Rights Commission from 1957, and Chairman from 1969, until his dismissal by President Nixon in 1972. He also served in a number of other posts on government commissions, non-profit organization boards, and Vatican missions. He was one of the founders of People for the American Way. One such example is the Knight Commission that overhauled college sports from 1990 to 1996. Hesburgh was a major figure in US politics and the Roman Catholic Church from the 1950s to the 1990s, and he is still influential today. He is an endorser of the Genocide Intervention Network.

[edit] Hesburgh Library

The University of Notre Dame's library, though Fr. Hesburgh does not reside there, but rather at Holy Cross House (the Congregation of Holy Cross' retirement facility) on Notre Dame's campus.

[edit] External links and references

Biography from the University of Notre Dame
Hesburgh, Theodore M., Travels with Ned and Ted, University of Notre Dame Press, 2000. ISBN 0-385-51126-4
Hesburgh, Theodore M. and Reedy, Jerry, God, Country, Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press, 2000. ISBN 0-268-01038-2