Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that JONATHAN HANNAH, J.D., and CARLA INGRANDO, Ph.D., have been appointed Associate Directors of Foundation Relations effective 25 November 2013 and 9 December 2013, respectively. Brief bios are included below.

As part of the Academic Advancement team, the foundation relations group works across the University to surface, devise, and implement strategic academic fundraising initiatives to bolster the University’s research enterprise. In addition, the group engages in direct fundraising by proactively identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding private philanthropic foundations from across the nation and around the world. Both Jon and Carla bring an aptitude for scholarship and relationships, along with a high level of creativity, technical knowledge, and determination that make them ideal additions to the group.

Like the rest of the foundation relations group, Jon and Carla will carry both a portfolio of foundations and an academic portfolio, disciplines for which they will serve as resident experts, getting to know the faculty and research thoroughly. They will also serve as development/campaign liaisons for certain strategic research initiatives (SRI) and University centers and institutes, providing critical translation and support of priorities for use by the regional development team in a fashion similar to the college-based directors of academic advancement.

JON will carry the Departments of Economics and Political Science in the College of Arts and Letters, the departments within the Mendoza College of Business and the School of Law, as well as the collegiate centers and institutes affiliated with these departments, College, and School. In addition, he will provide liaison support for the Center for Civil and Human Rights (now a University Institute), the Kellogg Institute, and the Kroc Institute.

CARLA will carry the Departments of Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology in the Social Sciences and the Departments of History, English, Classics, German, Romance Languages, Program of Liberal Studies, American Studies, and Africana Studies in the Humanities within the College of Arts and Letters, as well as the collegiate centers and institutes affiliated with these departments. In addition, she will provide liaison support for the Nanovic Institute in partnership with Drew Buscareno.

I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the search committee who graciously gave of their time and energy to ensure that we found the right candidates for these roles. Since there’s no more important decision than the next person that we invite to join our team, I am incredibly grateful for the support and insights I received from Allison Maddox, George Keegan, Ernestine Gardner, Brenda Hull Cox, Dr. Maria Di Pasquale, Shannon Cullinan, and Lou Nanni. We were also blessed to have the time and expertise of our colleagues in the Institute for Scholarship and the Liberal Arts with whom Jon and Carla will work closely: Prof. Tom Merluzzi, Ph.D. (director), Lori Loftis (assistant director), and Ken Garcia, Ph.D. (associate director). Finally, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the constant support and guidance offered by our UR recruiting team throughout the process: Gretchen Neely, Jeanne Monsma, and Ann Amico Moran.

Please join me in welcoming Jon and Carla to these important roles on our academic advancement team.

For the entire Foundation Relations Group: Allison, Ernestine, and George,

Rudy Reyes Jr.

Director of Foundation Relations

Office of Academic Advancement

MEET JON HANNAH

Jon graduated from Saint Xavier University in Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, from the University of Detroit Mercy a Doctor of Jurisprudence, and from Lewis University with a Master of Science in Management. Jon’s legal studies concentrated heavily in the fields of International Law and Constitutional Law and served as the chapter president of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.

A great intellectual experience in law school ultimately led to a position with the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation where he served as a Policy Analyst. Most recently Jon worked in corporate and foundation relations at Lewis University (Romeoville, Ill.), where he also taught undergraduate courses in the business school.

Asked why Notre Dame is the place for Jon, he responds: “While a part of me is very sad to be leaving Lewis, I am thrilled to join the University of Notre Dame.  …  I’m not sure exactly how to describe it, but I feel different at Notre Dame.  There is a spirit in the air that tells me anything is possible… Notre Dame is the center of Catholic intellectual thought [and]… as Father Sorin intended, a source of good in the world.  ”

Jon and his wife Katie are relocating to Granger, Ind., with their 4 year-old son, Nate.

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MEET CARLA INGRANDO

Carla was graduated from Furman University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, from the University of South Carolina with a Master of Public Administration, from Vanderbilt University with a Master of Divinity, and from the University of Notre Dame with a Doctor of Philosophy in Theological Ethics. Her research interests surround the age-old question, “what does it mean to live a good life?”

Near the beginning of her career, Carla served as a grants and program officer with the South Carolina Humanities Council, where her work with scholars across a wide variety of academic disciplines inspired her to want to be a scholar. After completing her Ph.D., Carla joined the faculty at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, offering courses in ethics, women’s spirituality, Catholic social teaching, and a seminar for religion majors on John Paul II. Most recently Carla served as a program officer at the Michigan Humanities Council where she directed their signature program, the Great Michigan Read, a statewide biennial reading and discussion series.

On returning to her alma mater, Carla reflects on the mission and impact of Notre Dame: “As a graduate student, I experienced Notre Dame as a place that cultivated and nurtured … a spirit of intellectual engagement and a ‘disciplined sensibility to the poverty, injustice, and oppression that burden the lives of so many.’ I believe that by asking good questions, developing good research models, and disseminating the results of that research, our faculty and students – who are second to none – will make the world a better place.”

Carla and her husband, Dave Winterstein have relocated to Mishawaka, Ind.

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Rudy Reyes Jr.

Director of Foundation Relations