Welcome Chas Grundy

Dear Colleagues,

Please join me in welcoming Chas Grundy to the Development team!  Chas has joined us in the capacity of ND Family and Digital Strategist, where he will develop and implement a strategy to engage Notre Dame fans and Subway Alumni. In this role, Chas will implement a new engagement strategy to the Notre Dame faithful, through proactive marketing and innovative experiences.  Moreover, Chas will develop an integrated digital strategy for Advancement, including the Annual Giving Programs, Gift Planning, CFR, and leadership giving, driving revenue growth and donors.

Since 2009, Chas has served as the Director of Interactive Marketing for Agency ND.  In this role, he successfully led the University’s internal agency to serve Notre Dame’s online marketing efforts.  Under his leadership, the Agency launched major projects including ND.edu redesign, UND.com, Campus Map, Tour, Game Day, the University Facebook page, and mobile websites.  From 2005 – 2009, Chas served in other capacities at the Agency, including Web Developer and Project Manager.  In 2004, Chas founded the company Birch Lake Studios, Inc., which offered design, programming, security, and marketing services for the web.

Chas earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame with majors in Japanese and Computer Applications.  During his time at Notre Dame, he completed a one-year study abroad program at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan.  Chas is actively involved with Camp Fire USA River Bend Council, and served on its Board of Directors from November 2007 – 2011.  Chas and his wife are expecting their second child next month!

Please join me in welcoming Chas to the team!

Regards,

Micki

Micki L. Kidder, Assistant Vice President for Development

 

University Relations Christmas Project

University Relations Christmas Project

Benefiting:  

          Riley Children’s Hospital & Real Services – Elves for Elders Program  

 Gift and supply donations will be collected through Friday, December 9.

 To support Riley Children’s Hospital, you may select any number of items from their wish list. To view the Riley wish list, please see the attachment, or view the list online at: http://iuhealth.org/riley/for-patients/child-life/donations-to-riley/wish-list/

To purchase a gift for a Real Services client, you can pick up a gift tag at any of the distribution locations listed below:

Tag Distribution and Donation Drop-Off Locations/Contacts:

ESC Café tree (Gerry Brown or Kris Machalleck)

Grace Hall (JoAnn Raatz)

Eck Visitor’s Center (Lori Willard or Katie (Zakas) Rutledge)

405 Main Building (Kathy Lentych)

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

The University Relations Community Service Committee

Welcome Jeffrey K. Arnold, Director of Corporate Relations

In one of the most anticipated announcements in Development history, I take great pride in announcing Jeff Arnold as a new Director of Corporate Relations.

Jeff Arnold joined the Corporate and Foundation Relations team on Nov. 7th. Jeff comes to Notre Dame after 25 years with Allied-Signal/Honeywell. During that time, he held numerous senior roles ranging from Senior Staff Engineer (performing aerospace R&D) to Senior Product & Business Manager (responsible for portfolio management, product prioritization / change and overall business strategy for $500 M division). Jeff’s engineering and industry background fill a much needed spot on our CFR team and one that will benefit the University tremendously. I’m thrilled Jeff has chosen to join our team.

Jeff is married to Barbara (Barb) Arnold and they have two boys, Nathan and Matthew. Jeff and Barb reside in Granger, but he originally hails from Canada (the real reason I hired him). Please join me in welcoming Jeff.

George Q. Keegan,  Senior Director – Corporate and Foundation Relations

BC Game Sorin Prime Rib Buffet Dinners

Colleagues,

The attendee lists for the Friday and Saturday Sorin Prime Rib Buffet dinners are now available as a link on the UR Calendar.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,

Laura

Laura L. O’Sullivan                574-631-8808

Welcome Chris Harrington ’08, Assistant Director of 50 Year Reunion Giving

Chris Harrington ’08 will be joining the Reunion Giving and Volunteers team on Nov. 15th as the Assistant Director of 50 Year Reunion Giving. Chris is an extremely accomplished and talented professional. Chris grew up in London, England, and graduated from Notre Dame’s honors program with a B.S. in Biological Sciences. Chris is proficient in the Spanish language having studied abroad in the summer of 2007 at La Universidad de las Americas in Puebla, Mexico. Chris began his professional career with Eli Lilly and Company where he worked as a Territory Manager for the Diabetes, Urology and Neuroscience divisions. He was with Eli Lilly for three years and left to join the Volcano Corporation in February, 2011. With the Volcano Corporation, he worked as a Clinical Consultant in the Cath Labs division. Chris is also a trailblazer. Having grown up in London, he played the closest thing he could to football: rugby. As a ND undergrad, he resurrected our Rugby team, drafted a constitution, and applied for and achieved club status from the University. He was responsible for recruiting players, coaching, scheduling matches, organizing transportation, acquiring equipment and uniforms and most importantly, fundraising. While President and Captain of the Rugby team, Chris met with numerous alumni and raised over $300,000 for the team. I’m thrilled Chris has chosen to join our team and to come home to Notre Dame. Chris is married to Katrina (Corcoran) Harrington who is a 2010 Notre Dame graduate. They are moving to South Bend from Chicago and are expecting their first baby on January 1st. Please join me in welcoming Chris to our dynamic and talented team.

Craig J. Horvath, Director of Reunion Giving and Volunteers

ND #1 in Graduation Success Rate

from the Wall Street Journal:

Notre Dame (5-3) is at Wake Forest (5-3) Saturday, which—based on those schools’ performances in Graduation Success Rate—is the premier showdown of the college-football season.

If you’re not familiar with it, GSR is the metric the NCAA uses to determine the number of student-athletes on any team who actually earn a college degree. Unlike the federal graduation rate, the GSR takes into consideration transfer students, so long as they’re academically eligible.

In the latest report, which was released by the NCAA last week and was based on student-athletes who entered school from 2001 to 2004, Notre Dame’s overall GSR (99%) ranks No. 1 among the 120 major-college schools. Wake Forest (94%) is tied for No. 7. In terms of football GSR only, Notre Dame (97%) is first and Wake Forest (81%) is 16th.

But if you consider these school’s athletic programs as a whole, it’s No. 1 vs. No. 2. Eighteen of Notre Dame’s 22 teams (82%) got a perfect GSR score—the highest percentage nationally. Wake Forest’s 79% “perfection” rate is second-best. In case you’re wondering, 25% of Alabama’s teams received perfect scores (four out of 16), while just one of LSU’s 16 teams did.

—Andrew Kahn

The Brainy Bowl

The schools that have the biggest percentage of varsity teams with perfect Graduation Success Rate scores:

School Perfect Teams Percent
1. Notre Dame 18 of 22 82%
2. Wake Forest 11 of 14 79%
3. Boston College 19 of 25 76%
4. Stanford 19 of 29 66%
5. Duke 13 of 22 59%
6. Northwestern 11 of 19 58%
7. Rice 6 of 12 50%
7. Vanderbilt 6 of 12 50%

Sources: NCAA, WSJ research Note: Only NCAA-sponsored sports counted

Matt Antongiovanni ’02, Assistant Director, Matching Gifts

Please join me in welcoming Matt Antongiovanni ’02 to the Reunion Giving and Volunteers team.  Matt has accepted the position of Assistant Director, Matching Gifts. Matt brings a wealth of experience to this important position, most recently as Associate Director of Major Gifts at Notre Dame. Matt will utilize his professional experience in relationship building, data analysis and synthesis, and volunteer coordination in leading the No. 1 Matching Gifts program in higher education. Matt is excited about leading the Matching Gifts program to new heights, and will expand our current program through three primary areas: 1) recruitment and retention of Corporate Agents, 2) strategy and coordination of matching gift opportunities at the highest levels, and 3) collaboration with the Corporate and Foundation Relations and Leadership teams to help foster existing and new benefactor relationships for Notre Dame. Matt looks forward to partnering with his Notre Dame colleagues on strategies and execution ideas for matching gift opportunities. Please feel free to call him at 631-2230 or e mail him at Matthew.J.Antonigiovanni.2@nd.edu to congratulate him!

Craig Horvath, Director of Reunion Giving and Volunteers

Patti McLaughlin, Annual Giving Coordinator

Please join us in welcoming Patti McLaughlin to the Annual Giving Programs team!  Patti will join us on Monday, November 7th in the capacity of Annual Giving Coordinator. Patti earned her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Notre Dame Law School. As Annual Giving Coordinator, Patti will work to build an infrastructure and educational program for our volunteer base of alumni, parents, and friends.  She will also coordinate a variety of logistics around alumni, parents, and friends communications.  Patti spent many years as an attorney and Spanish teacher, and brings passion, knowledge and a terrific work ethic to this newly created position. Patti has held numerous leadership volunteer positions throughout her career, is currently a member of the Community Life Commission at St. Joseph Church in South Bend, and recently chaired her 20th Notre Dame Law School reunion. Please join us in welcoming Patti to the University Relations team!

Craig Horvath and Amy Schell

Farewell to our Colleague, Laura Rieff

Laura Rieff is pursuing a career in real estate.  Her last day in her position with Law School Advancement will be November 21st.  Laura’s warm and caring personality has touched many members of our UR staff and our donors.  She will be greatly missed by all of us.  I wish Laura great success as a realtor, and I congratulate her on her tenure with Notre Dame’s Development Office.  She requested not to have an “official” farewell party, but please stop by 1150 Eck Hall of Law and wish her well in her new career.  Information about her open position will be available at a later date.

Sincerely,

Jill Donnelly