Welcome Caitlin Hutchison to the Stewardship & Donor Relations team!

It is my pleasure to welcome Caitlin Hutchison to the Stewardship & Donor Relations team, reporting to me in her role as Assistant Director, University Stewardship Initiatives. Caitlin’s first day will be Monday, June 5th, and she will serve as the stewardship partner to the Keough School of Global Affairs, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, School of Architecture, University Enterprises and Events, and will manage Suspense Fund reporting for the Stewardship & Donor Relations team.

After completing her B.A. in History at Ferris State University, Caitlin earned an M.A. in Art History from Notre Dame in 2012, becoming a proud member of the Notre Dame family. She went on to complete her Ph.D. studies in Art History at University of Delaware, researching high crosses in early medieval Ireland especially as they relate to secular and sacred landscapes.

Caitlin was awarded the prestigious US-UK Fulbright Scholar Award for 2020-2021, through which she taught as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of York in the United Kingdom. Caitlin also taught as an Instructor of Record at the University of Delaware from 2014-2020, and most recently served as an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Art History at Ball State University for the 2022-2023 Academic Year. While in these positions Caitlin was a lecturer of undergraduate and graduate courses in art history and the humanities, in which she taught about art, architecture, and society from a broad range of historical and contemporary cultures. Caitlin is also an accomplished athlete, and was a member of the Women’s Basketball Team at Ferris State University while completing her undergraduate degree. She brought this passion for athletics to her time at Notre Dame as a Master’s student, where she won co-ed championships in basketball, flag football, and volleyball, and proudly claimed the women’s Bookstore Basketball Championship in 2011.

Caitlin’s past Notre Dame experience, successful academic background, and professional development within various higher education settings will serve both her and the University very well as a stewardship partner to our academic units. Please join me in offering a warm welcome to Caitlin Hutchison as she joins the University Relations family.

Claire Brown

Welcome Betsy Quinn, Sr. Director of Advisory Councils and Volunteer Engagement!

I am excited to announce that Betsy Quinn has accepted the position of Senior Director of Advisory Councils and Volunteer Engagement and will begin on June 12, 2023.

Betsy earned her engineering degree from Notre Dame in 1995, and for the past 17 years she has served as the Director of Stewardship and Engagement at St. Piux X Catholic Church in Granger. In this leadership role, she was responsible for organizing and coordinating the $21.7M capital campaign for a new church and expansion of parish facilities.

Betsy has four children including twin girls who graduated from Notre Dame in 2022, and her husband James works in the Investment Office. She is an avid Notre Dame and Chicago Cubs fan. Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Betsy at betsyquinn97@gmail.com.

– Drew Buscareno

Farewell to Jim Small

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It is with bittersweet emotion that I share with you the news that Jim Small is retiring from Notre Dame, effective June 30, 2023.

Jim has served as a senior leader of our team for over eleven years, transforming development communications into inspiring stories for Notre Dame alumni, parents and friends. We will miss Jim’s passion, innovation, commitment to excellence and devotion to Notre Dame and our mission.

Jim is leaving Notre Dame and our University Relations team in a much better and stronger place. Jim pioneered and executed many of our biggest and most creative endeavors over the past decade, including Notre Dame Day, the Notre Dame Trail, and Sorin: A Notre Dame Story. Under Jim’s leadership, Storytelling developed custom donor proposals to convey our priorities, translating into billions donated to the University. He built videography, design and social media experiences previously unconceived; enhanced brand messaging; and taught us the importance of “Think, Feel, Do” through storytelling. While the Annual Giving team continues to break records in unrestricted and giving society gifts and donor counts year after year, Jim pushed colleagues to think differently, not to look back, but rather, to always look ahead with excitement. Similarly, Jim and Susan are now doing just that with retirement on the horizon, and Jim asked me to share the attached message with you.

Later this week, the position of Associate Vice President for Development will be posted. In the meantime, please take a moment to read Jim’s heartfelt message and join me in wishing Jim, Susan, and the entire Small family every happiness on their next adventure.

Best, Lou

– – – – –
 
From Jim Small, Associate Vice President for Development, Storytelling & Engagement
 
I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to serve the mission of the University of Notre Dame and to be your colleague for 4,189 days. It’s the most cherished professional honor of my lifetime.
 
How lucky we all are to represent an institution that matters — and, how lucky I have been to work every day with so many talented, humble and kind individuals who love Notre Dame as much as I do.

Trust me, this is rare air.

I will admit I am going to miss 7:47 AM ET meetings every Monday with Lou and crew and I’m dearly going to miss being in the trenches with my teammates on the Storytelling Team and Annual Giving Team (AKA) “The Record Breakers.” You have proven you are the ABSOLUTE BEST at what you do in the world — PERIOD.

And selfishly, I’m going to miss the privilege and responsibility of telling the Notre Dame story – a love story unlike any other.

But, please know that I still believe I have the ability to “do” great things – so I’m not ready to utter the “R word” (retire) just yet — even though my birth certificate and hair color will tell you otherwise. So please feel free to spread this story about my departure:
 
“Small has decided to leave Notre Dame early (sans a degree) and enter his name into the transfer portal to explore opportunities where he can use up the eligibility he has left to see what his N.I.L. value is in the marketplace…”. (I HOPE YOU ARE SMILING)

I will leave you with this. The prolific American essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, is credited with this quote, that inspired me long ago to always ‘think differently and never be afraid to fail:
 
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” 
 
I hope I’ve left a trail…

P.S. There are three blonde-headed kids in Vero Beach, FL who are going to see their Grandpa & Grandma Small a little more often. I pray they will appreciate this as much as we will.

Best Wishes to Lynn Hubert!

Colleagues,

Often times it is difficult to see someone leave the University of Notre Dame, and this is one of those times. After 18 years of service, Lynn Hubert is leaving Our Lady’s University to pursue a new opportunity with Ave Maria University as the Vice President and Advisor to the President. She will help Ave Maria build out their development team and also manage a principal gift portfolio.

While it is difficult to see Lynn go, it is with a heart of gratitude that we wish her, Dan, and the entire family well in their new pursuit. The Hubert family has been an immense blessing to Our Lady’s University as well as to the St. Pius X parish family. We are grateful to Lynn for taking such fantastic care of her benefactors, deeply and authentically living her Catholic faith, and for simply being a great friend to us all. Lynn, we wish you all of God’s blessings and tremendous success. Lynn’s last day in the office will be Wednesday, May 24th.

Jason Scarlett
Senior Director

If you wish to leave a message for Lynn, you can do so here: https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/1tm6JbUa

Congratulations, Caitlyn Clinton!

We are happy to share some exciting news for Caitlyn Clinton!

Starting June 1st, Caitlyn will transition from overseeing ND Listens and Student Philanthropy to Associate Director, Leadership Annual Giving.

Over the last 20 months, Caitlyn has grown ND Listens and forged many valuable campus relationships. Not only that, but her passion for Notre Dame shines every day. She’s certainly leaving some big shoes to fill.

Caitlyn has many talents and we know she will soar in this new role. Please join us in a heartfelt congratulations, Caitlyn!

We are actively hiring for the Assistant Director, Annual Giving Programs (ND Listens) role. In the interim, please direct ND Listens student requests to Meredith Sharwarko (msharwar@nd.edu).

Meredith Sharwarko

Annual Giving Spring Renewal Mailing #3

Dear Colleagues,

The third spring renewal mailing (renew #3) is dropping in mailboxes starting Friday, May 19 to all our unrestricted and giving society benefactors. As a reminder, this mailing is sent to all assigned and unassigned benefactors whose annual giving is less than $25,000, asking them to renew their previous calendar year gift by their respective fund owner. This mailing is being sent to over 5,200 households and will be followed by email reminders in the weeks to come. If you have any questions regarding our renewal strategy, please reach out to the appropriate fund (Sorin, Rockne, Law, etc.) owner on the annual giving team and they can assist.

Thanks!
Annual Giving Team

Welcome Lynette Shunka to the ITS Team!

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to announce that Lynette Shunka joined the Information & Technology Services team on May 8. Lynette will be a Salesforce CRM Administrator for asceND.

We are excited to see the impact Lynette will have on our team. Her experience,
skillset, and commitment to the mission of Our Lady’s University will help advance our
team’s work and culture.

Lynette has her bachelor’s degree from Lamar University, and is a Certified Salesforce Administrator. She and her husband, Kyle reside in the Houston TX area.

Please join me in offering a warm welcome to Lynette as she joins the University Relations family.

– Carleen

Best wishes to Natalie Sargent!

Dear Colleagues,

Please join me in congratulating Natalie Sargent as she begins a new role in the Provost’s Office as the Director of Faculty Awards & Recognition, effective June 1.

Enhancing Notre Dame’s pipeline of national recognition and awards for faculty is an area of strategic importance for the University, and Natalie will be working with the provost, the Provost’s Office team and senior leaders across the academy to lead strategy and facilitate collaboration.

During her tenure as Academic Advancement Director, and in collaboration with many of you, over $106M has been raised to date for the Mendoza College of Business including for the Business Honors Program and the Meyer Business on the Frontlines Program.

On behalf of the AAD team, we wish Natalie well and will commence the search for our next Academic Advancement Director for Mendoza as soon as possible. If you or anyone in your network would be interested in this role, please reach out to me at any time.

Thanks!

KO

Best Wishes to Mary Bueno

Friends,

I am both proud and grateful to announce that Mary Bueno will be retiring from her role as Development Associate, Advancement Services effective June 30, 2023 after 10 loyal years of service to Notre Dame.

Mary joined the Development team in 2013 after a career in administrative support positions at both Attco Machine Products and Honeywell International. Mary quickly became a beloved member of the Annual Giving team, providing assistance with nearly every annual giving effort, from Notre Dame Day to donor experience support for Giving Society members. Above all, she served as a trusted advocate, cheerleader, counselor, and friend to so many of us who have been blessed to work with her. Whether with a high five, a hug, or simply a smile, Mary has the rare ability to make every day better just because you have the chance to work with her.

I personally am so grateful to Mary for joining the Advancement Services team this past year, bringing with her the same can-do and “how can I help” approach to a new role and team. Mary will be incredibly missed, but we are thrilled that she and her husband, Manny, will be jumping into this exciting new phase of life!

Please join me in thanking Mary for all she has done for Notre Dame and our team. We will miss you, Mary!

Brian

UR Walks – May 9th at 11:45 (Grace Hall)

Hello UR Team! If you are interested in joining us for our next UR Walks, please fill out this form. Brian Diss will be leading the walk from Grace Hall. As there may be some non-pavement, trail walking, we advise that appropriate footwear be considered. Signing up also helps us to contact those who are interested just in case we need to cancel at the last minute due to inclement weather. We look forward to catching up with you while getting in our steps. Happy trails!