Author: Grace Prosniewski

Posted on

Danielle Green ’99

Danielle Green was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side. She earned a basketball scholarship to the University of Notre Dame where she graduated in 1999 with a degree in psychology. After graduation, she spent two years as a teacher at the Chicago International Charter School. Danielle left her teaching job to follow the call of a childhood dream – to serve her country in the Army.

In 2002, at the age of 25, Danielle enlisted into the United States Army as an E4. Her military occupation was a military police officer. Her unit deployed to Iraq in January of 2004. On May 25, 2004, Danielle was pulling security on a rooftop when a couple of rockets whizzed past her. Immediately, Danielle reached down to grab her weapon when a rocket-propelled grenade hit her as she began to return fire. Danielle’s comrades came to her aid, carrying her to safety. When she awoke in the hospital, her master sergeant gently told her that her dominate left arm was gone and the Brigade Commander pinned on the Purple Heart.

Danielle returned to the States to begin her recovery at Walter Reed. Four months after the injury, Danielle was running a five-mile race in Central Park in New York. Sports continue to play an integral role in Danielle life. Since the injury, she has learned how to play racquetball, golf, fish, and ski with the hopes of expecting her horizons.

Danielle graduated May 17, 2008 with a master’s degree in School/Community Counseling from Saint Xavier University. She also earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from DePaul University in 2009. Danielle received the Pat Tillman Award for Service in 2015. She currently serves as a supervisory re-adjustment counseling therapist at the veterans’ center in South Bend, Indiana.

Posted on

Carissa Baldwin ’20

Although she grew up in a military family, Carissa never thought she would end up joining the service herself. But as the years passed, she realized that she felt called to join the military and to serve her country. As the daughter of a United States Marine, Carissa felt at home in the military way of life. Eventually, the countless moves, school changes, and years of new houses and new friends became the norm, and she began to find joy in the challenge of change. When the time came to look to the future, she saw that military lifestyle was an honorable one, and the pathway that provided her with the sense of duty and dedication that she desired.

Being raised in the Marine Corps taught her about the importance of servant leadership and sacrifice, and those lessons were always central to Carissa’s life. Her family always stayed together, and leaned on one another in times of deployment, trial, and hardship. She was inspired by her father’s leadership and dedication to serving his country and her mother’s commitment to family and support for her father and the dreams of her and her younger brother. In her last two years of high school (luckily spent at the same school), she watched an older friend receive a Marine Corps ROTC scholarship to his dream school. Carissa realized that she could do the same and earn the commission she desired to serve her country.

Carissa applied for the Navy ROTC scholarship, which elicited plenty of teasing from the Marines in her life, following in her grandfather’s footsteps, who served as a Navy Chief and was a big Notre Dame fan. In her application process, Carissa stumbled across the University of Notre Dame in a list of impressive Navy ROTC units. The school seemed to call to her, it had everything she wanted and more in a college, and the academic challenge, dedication to service, and uniqueness led her to fall in love with Notre Dame. She then received the ROTC scholarship to Notre Dame, followed by acceptance to the University, which she immediately accepted.

She finally stepped foot on campus for the first time in April of her senior year and found herself truly at home. Since coming to the University of Notre Dame, Carissa has found not only the home where she has lived the longest, but also a place that she feels has helped her become the person and future military officer she dreamed she’d be. She is currently studying as a Biological Sciences major with a minor in Italian Studies. The Navy ROTC unit has become a second family in her time at Notre Dame, filled with like-minded individuals working to earn the title of Ensign in the U.S. Navy and Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps that support each other like a family. On campus, Carissa is a Resident Assistant in Pangborn Hall, a member of the Biology and Italian Clubs, has worked in numerous mentorship programs on campus, and has studied echolocation as a research assistant in a bioacoustics laboratory.

Carissa is service assigned Student Naval Aviator in the US Navy, and will be attending flight school after graduation. She hopes to fly V-22 Ospreys or CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters.

Posted on

Sr. Katherine Seibert, M.D., ’67 M.S., ’73 PhD

Despite her 85 years, Sr. Katherine Seibert, M.D., ’67 M.S., ’73 PhD continues to practice medicine. An oncologist and internal medicine practitioner, Dr. Seibert — until recently — spent two days a week at Hudson River HealthCare in New York’s Hudson River Valley, an area now regarded as the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

After taking her vows in 1954, Seibert taught as a young nun. In the 1960s, Notre Dame offered a teacher training program, which she attended in the summers and, after five years, earned her master’s in biology in 1967. After graduation, Rev. James Doll, C.S.C. ’42, who Seibert had met through their work at Notre Dame’s LOBUND Laboratories, had asked her to stay, but it wasn’t until the fall of 1968 when she returned to pursue a doctorate in microbiology.

During her nights in Lewis Hall, Seibert struggled to sleep as her thoughts were occupied by people struggling with cancer. She knew she could serve those people more effectively in the medical field, so just before completing her PhD, she approached her superior about attending medical school. Three years later, she graduated from Creighton with intentions to pursue oncology.

Following medical school, she trained at the National Cancer Institute and St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis. After serving as chief of medical oncology at several hospitals in New York City, she was recruited to develop an oncology program in Sullivan County, New York, where there had been no cancer services previously. She also spent time in Billings County, North Dakota, setting up an oncology program there.

Ultimately, she moved to internal medicine when her sister became ill and has served as an internist at Hudson River HealthCare since 2007. Founded in the early 1970s by four women in the basement of a church to address the lack of accessible and affordable health care services in Peekskill, New York, HRHCare now serves 10 counties in the Hudson Valley and Long Island and treats not only the insured, but the uninsured and undocumented, regardless of their ability to pay.

Posted on

Silvia Dall’Olio

Imagine you are charged with the health and safety of more than 100 students studying abroad, a formidable job under normal circumstances. Then imagine that a rapidly spreading mystery virus with no vaccine or cure that you thought was half a world away is suddenly on your doorstep.

Silvia Dall’Olio, executive director of Notre Dame’s Rome Global Gateway, says she felt like she was living in two worlds as the coronavirus rapidly spread through Italy in February. She watched a disaster unfold in the north of the country while life in Rome continued unfazed — and students prepared to attend big parties for Carnival, the festival just before Lent begins.

Dall’Olio is getting high marks from the University for how she reacted, keeping a cool head and taking all the right measures as the world’s second major COVID-19 hotspot was exploding around her. She credits her team in Rome, the University’s second-largest program abroad, and counterparts at Notre Dame International and the University’s Emergency Operations Center for the students’ ultimate safety.

Dall’Olio found Notre Dame through her now husband, Michael Driessen, a political science professor at John Cabot University in Rome. They met as students in Bologna, her hometown, through the community of L’Arche, a place where adults with and without intellectual disabilities share their lives together. They decided to get married, and three weeks after the wedding, she landed on the Notre Dame campus, where Driessen was earning his doctorate.

An assistant professional specialist of Romance languages, Dall’Olio earned a master’s degree and taught while at Notre Dame. She holds a doctoral degree in linguistics and second language pedagogy, and has worked internationally as a translator and language tutor, including at the Italian Embassy in Qatar’s capital, Doha. Dall’Olio has led the gateway for three years, but has worked there in various capacities since it opened in fall 2014.

She is particularly proud of the gateway’s formal designation last year by the Italian Education Ministry as an Italian research institution, and the Rome International Scholars Program, which combines traditional learning with research and internships.

Posted on

Abby Heck ’21

Abby Heck is a junior on the women’s golf team, hailing from Memphis, Tenn. Below is an excerpt of her experience volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“On a typical day, I have my online classes, which begin at 7:20 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Once I’m done with class, I go to West Cancer Center, where I help screen patients for the coronavirus. I spend about twenty hours per week volunteering.

I’m a pre-med student interested in oncology. A doctor who I shadowed over Christmas break reached out to me saying they needed help with volunteers for, I think, two reasons. First, hospitals and clinics, and really all healthcare facilities, are understaffed to deal with such a pandemic. We have not faced such a large outbreak since the Spanish Flu nearly a hundred years ago. Second, most volunteers are older and at-risk; they especially need to stay home.

I’m right there in the doorway when people walk into the clinic. I ask about travel histories and symptoms. We don’t turn anyone away, but if someone looks like they could be displaying symptoms of the virus, they’re given a mask and seen separately. We have isolation rooms that are cleaned and kept empty for an hour between patients. These practices are aimed at preventing the spread of the virus. We’re trying to protect everyone there, especially the patients with cancer whose immune systems are already compromised.

It’s been really interesting to be here day after day. I’ve shadowed a lot of doctors in the past and in different fields, but I don’t usually have a chance to interact with patients or get to know them at all. Volunteering every day now, I see a lot of the same people, and I’ve had a lot of really meaningful conversations. I’ve seen women walk out after finishing their last breast cancer treatment. They’re so excited, and I’ve had fun celebrating with them. I’ve also seen patients who just received rather sad news about their prognosis. I’ve learned empathy, and that has been very moving.”

Posted on

Hesburgh Women of Impact 2020 Retreat Update

To the Hesburgh Women of Impact,

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the cancellation of the Hesburgh Women of Impact 2020 Retreat. Please know this decision was the result of careful consideration and discussion regarding the COVID-19 situation, with the safety and wellbeing of our speakers and attendees being our top priority. While this is disappointing, we know that this is the best course of action to protect our Notre Dame family, especially those who may be at a higher risk of infection.

If you have already registered for this year’s retreat, you will be refunded your entire registration fee. No action is required on your part. We have had women reach out to let us know that in the event the retreat was cancelled, they were interested in donating their registration fee to the Student Emergency Relief Fund. You can do so here. 100% percent of gifts made to the fund directly benefit those students whose financial status has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While we aren’t able to gather this year, we do look forward to hosting everyone on campus for the Hesburgh Women of Impact Retreat in June of 2021! Next year’s retreat will run from June 25th-27th. We will be hosting the retreat in conjunction with the rescheduled Billy Joel concert, so registration for 2021 will again include the option to receive a premium club ticket. We will send out further information later in the year.

Thank you for all you do to support both the Hesburgh Women of Impact Initiative and the wider Notre Dame family. It is through our shared love, dedication, and belief in the mission that we will emerge from these challenging times stronger and more impactful than ever.

Please know that you and your families are in my prayers, and I eagerly await the day we can all gather together again under the Golden Dome.

Stay well.

With gratitude,
Grace Prosniewski

Posted on

Angela R. Logan

Angela R. Logan, Ph.D. is an Associate Teaching Professor and has served as the St. Andre Bessette Director of Nonprofit Professional Development (NPD) in the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. A member of the College’s Department of Management and Organization, she teaches the Master of Nonprofit Administration (MNA) Field Project course, which serves as the capstone course for the degree program.

In her role as Academic Director, she leads the team that manages both the Master of Nonprofit Administration degree program and the Nonprofit Certificate programs. Angela joined the College in the summer of 2013 as the Associate Director for Planning and Development for Nonprofit Professional Development. In 2015, she became the Associate Director for Operations for NPD.

Angela has over 20 years of experience in higher education and philanthropy, with a particular focus in the areas of education and diversity. Over the course of her career, she has served as the Program Officer for Education at The Harvest Foundation (Martinsville, VA), the Director of the Bonner Scholars Program at Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH), and the Director of Multicultural Affairs and the Admissions Counselor/Coordinator of Multicultural Admissions at Defiance College (Defiance, OH). Dr. Logan’s research focuses on the intersection of gender, race, and philanthropic leadership. A trained facilitator of Anti-Racism Study Circles, she also provides trainings on leadership, conflict resolution, stress and time management, and cultural sensitivity, both nationally and internationally. She is a Life Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and an active member of The Links, Incorporated.

She has taken courses through the Duke University Nonprofit Management Program, The Grantmaking School at Grand Valley State University, and The Fund Raising School at Indiana University. Angela holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from the University of Toledo, a Master of Business and Organizational Leadership degree from Defiance College, and is the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Philanthropic Studies from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Posted on

Emily Rupchock eMNA ’20

Emily Rupchock has been serving South Bend’s most vulnerable populations for more than a decade. After graduating with a degree from Bethel College in 2005, she took a position at Hope Ministries, a transitional housing program with a recovery focus for homeless individuals in the South Bend community.

After a stint with the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, Rupchock assumed her current role as Director of Ready to Grow St. Joe, a collection of early childhood stakeholders committed to ensuring that all children in St. Joseph County, Indiana, have the foundation to thrive in school and in life.

In 2014, Rupchock enrolled in an executive leadership course at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business as part of a professional development opportunity while at the Center for the Homeless. A few years later, she enrolled in Notre Dame’s Executive Master of Nonprofit Administration program. Her experience thus far has exceeded her initial high expectations. “It’s an intense program, but I appreciate that it’s well catered to folks who are full-time professionals. If you’re in a leadership role in the non-profit sector, it’s incredibly practical. It’s been great to develop presentations for class and then turn around and show them to my board right away.”

Rupchock also appreciates the ways in which the program intentionally develops female leaders. “There’s a lot of focus on what leadership looks like at its best—understanding yourself in an effort to understand the folks that work for you and with you.”

She credits the program’s small class sizes with fostering in-depth conversations about topics like gender parity in the workforce.

Posted on

Audrey George ’90

Audrey L. George is Chief Executive Officer of Horizons for Youth, Chicago’s only organization providing need-based scholarships, comprehensive support programs and educational resources for students of all academic ability levels from kindergarten through the start of their career. Through their holistic approach, 99 percent of their participants have graduated from high school and 84 percent have graduated from college or are currently pursuing their degree.

Audrey has led Horizons for Youth since 1999, overseeing growth from 42 students to 265, and staff from 2 to 17. Before Horizons for Youth, Audrey held positions at the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the Blessed Sacrament Youth Center in North Lawndale. She has presented at the National Partnership for Educational Access’ annual conference, the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management, the UChicago Booth School of Business, and the University of Notre Dame.

Audrey holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame and an M.A. in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago.

Posted on

Heidi Beidinger

Heidi Beidinger serves as the Director of the Master of Science in Global Health program and Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Department of Biology. She earned a Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois­-Chicago and a PhD in Educational Leadership and Organizational Analysis from Western Michigan University.

Heidi undertook various leadership roles with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 13 years. She developed an expertise in STDs/HIV, correctional healthcare, and surveillance and monitoring programs focused on improving screening and treatment programs in Chicago correctional facilities and hospitals. Heidi also worked as a consultant in K-12 education for nearly 10 years.

At Notre Dame, she focuses her research on developing partnerships with communities in rural Vellore, India and St. Joseph County, Indiana to assess and evaluate HIV care services, maternal and child health issues, and diabetes chronic management programs. She also partners with the Near Northwest Neighborhood of South Bend, Indiana to address and conduct research on the community’s lead poisoning issue.