Please join me in congratulating Zach and Emma Thurston on the birth of their first child, Eleanor Maeve Thurston. Eleanor came into the world on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 3:05am, weighing 6lbs 8oz. Both mom and baby (and dad) are well. She is a beautiful addition to the Notre Dame family!
Brandon Tabor
Staff may purchase parking to tailgate ahead of this weekend’s game versus Tennessee State. Please enter your request in BEAT. Email Jill Calderone or Andrew Frye if you do not have BEAT access. Available lots: Bookstore ($125), Joyce ($150), Stadium ($175).
Hello UR Team! If you are interested in joining us for our next UR Walks, please fill out this form. Sara Liebscher will be leading the walk from ESC at 12:30PM tomorrow, Tuesday, August 29th. We will meet in the first floor elevator lobby. 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!
Please help us welcome Katelyn (Katie) Leigh to Regional Development as a Development Coordinator (DC).
A South Bend resident, Katie graduated in 2018 from Indiana University, Bloomington with a degree in psychology. In her past career, she has served as a Human Resources Specialist for Scotts Miracle Gro, Brooksource, and IGS Energy., where her duties included talent recruitment, employee onboarding, report creation, and data management. Katie enjoys teaching fitness and some of you might have taken a class from her at Pure Barre on Angela Blvd.
Katie’s tech and organizational skills, in addition to her commitment to the University’s mission, will undoubtedly help advance our team’s work and culture.
Welcome to Development, Katie!
Angie Dennig and Lori Tinkey
Dear UR,
It is our distinct pleasure to announce the following promotions:
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Sincerely,
The DC Leadership Team
Dear Colleagues,
The University has recently become aware of an issue with its listing on the Internal Revenue Service’s Business Master File (the “BMF”) whereby the University’s name has been erroneously replaced with the “Society for NeuroScience.” The University and its tax advisors are in contact with the Internal Revenue Service and expect that the BMF soon will be updated to correctly report the University’s name alongside its EIN.
In the meantime, checks made payable to the Society of NeuroScience are not to be deposited. All checks should be sent to Gift Management in Grace Hall. Gift Management will reach out to each donor to request the check be reissued if the funds were intended as a gift to Notre Dame.
Thank you,
Alyssa
I’m thrilled to announce Paige Jackson will be joining the Annual Giving team as Associate Director, Law and Graduate Business Annual Giving beginning September 1, 2023.
A Detroit native, Paige has worked with Multicultural Student Programs and Services for the past six years leading various programs, initiates, and projects. Paige has a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Master’s in Public Administration from Saginaw Valley State University. Additionally, Paige has a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
Welcome to the team, Paige!
Katie Kerby
Senior Director, Annual Giving
It is with great excitement that we welcome Annica Hill to the Stewardship & Donor Relations team as Assistant Director for Data, University Stewardship Initiatives, reporting to Cristi Ganyard. Annica’s first day was Wednesday, August 23rd.
As a member of the Stewardship & Donor Relations team, Annica will project manage and support the data and technical needs of the University Stewardship Initiatives group, in particular the extensive data needs surrounding the University’s annual endowment reporting process. Working closely with USI teammates and campus partners, Annica will also manage the Qualtrics platform buildouts, data collection, and creation of the annual student thank-you letters for undergraduate and graduate financial aid funds. And, to round out her work in Stewardship, Annica will also assist as a stewardship partner to the Provost division.
Already a proud member of the Notre Dame family, Annica received her BS degree from Notre Dame in Applied and Computational Math and Statistics (ACMS), with a double major in FTT, graduating remotely—and later in-person—with the ever-resilient Class of 2020. As an undergraduate, Annica interned as a Performance Science Analyst for Notre Dame Athletics, devising quantitative analyses and dashboards for the varsity athletics staff around athlete performance and recovery. She was also a four-year member of the Band of the Fighting Irish, as both a piccolo player and member of the storied Irish Guard!
Since graduating from Notre Dame, Annica has worked as a Senior Fixed Income Associate Quantitative Analyst with The Travelers Companies in her hometown of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Annica has recently relocated to South Bend and looks forward to serving and strengthening her alma mater in this new capacity.
Annica’s Notre Dame spirit, together with her academic and professional background as a mathematician, data analyst, and FTT storyteller will serve both her and the University well in the years ahead. Please join me in offering a warm welcome to Annica Hill as she joins the University Relations family.
Cristi Ganyard
Director, University Stewardship Initiatives
Mark your calendars!
We are excited to announce two exclusive events to welcome our Badin Guild members back to campus this fall. The first event, our Badin Guild Reception, will be held on Friday, September 1, 2023 (ND v. Tennessee State) from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Walsh Family Hall of Architecture. Stefanos Polyzoides, the Francis and Kathleen Rooney Dean of the School of Architecture and Professor will be our special guest speaker that evening.
Our second event, the Badin Guild Luncheon will be held on Saturday, October 14, 2023 (ND v. USC) from Noon – 2:00 p.m. at McKenna Hall.
Benefactors registered for our Reception over Tennessee State weekend are listed in the Badin Guild Reception tab available here. The Badin Guild Luncheon registration over USC weekend will be available beginning late September.
Dear Colleagues,
There will be no gift processing today, August 23. Gift and Data Management is off campus on a day-long retreat.
Our team will resume normal operations tomorrow, August 24.
Thank you,
Alyssa
Please welcome Gasser Abousaif [Gah-sur A-boo-safe] to the Marketing Operations, Annual Giving team as our Content Marketing Specialist. His first day is Monday, August 28. Gasser comes to us from PA, but is originally from Egypt, spending most of his teen years growing up in Saudi Arabia before migrating to the US. His professional background is in creative marketing, storytelling, and technology and innovation. He also enjoys video production and photography.
In his new role, Gasser will write and produce fund and Giving Society digital and print communications as well as manage technological executions such as email creation, giving forms, and website management for the Annual Giving team.
We’re so thankful he chose Notre Dame. Please join me in welcoming Gasser to the team!
Lauren Dolzan
Dear everyone,
Please join me in welcoming Colleen Doyle to the Regional Development team in the Southern Region. Colleen’s portfolio will include donors from Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. Colleen comes to us from Routt Catholic High School in Jacksonville, Illinois. At Routt, Colleen was the Development and Enrollment Director for the past five years, and was responsible for advancement, recruiting, enrollment, marketing, PR, alumni relations and grant writing. She has an incredible fundraising track record of success, growing the program every year over the past several years. In 2020, Colleen was recognized by the Jacksonville Journal-Courier on their 20 under 40 list.
Colleen graduated from Marquette in 2010 with a Bachelors in Business Administration, majoring in Marketing and Information Technology. She grew up in a Notre Dame family – her Dad graduated from ND in ’75 – and she is one of six siblings. Of the six, two went to Marquette and the other four came to Notre Dame (2004, 2005, 2012, and 2014 – and two of them also married ND grads). Outside of work, Colleen loves to golf, listen to live music, watch The Office, is an avid sports-watcher (especially the Cards and the Packers), and enjoys spending time with her 9 nieces and nephews. Her favorite spot on campus is the grotto, specifically “the really big tree just west of the grotto” that her family lovingly refers to as “the Doyle Family tree”.. although Colleen says she’s pretty sure there is no record of this through the Development Office 😊
Please join me in extending a warm Southern welcome to Colleen!
Best,
Anne
It is my pleasure to welcome Sondra Solloway to the Prospect & Research Strategy team as Research Analyst, effective August 7. In her new role, Sondra will be working with the Research team to provide quality research to fundraisers and help identify process improvement opportunities in our recurring project-based work.
Sondra received her Master of Library Science from Indiana University, and her Bachelor of Arts in History & Humanistic Studies from Saint Mary’s College. She was a Research Analyst with Saint Mary’s College from 2011 until her transition to Notre Dame. When not playing with her kids, she likes to read while eating a package of oreos.
We are excited to see the impact Sondra’s skills and energy will have on our team. Please consider reaching out to Sondra at ssollowa@nd.edu to introduce yourself.
Welcome Sondra!
Christina Ryan
The Annual Giving Team is excited to welcome Hannah Thompson ’21 to the Annual Giving Team! She will lead the ND Listens program and our student engagement efforts. She is our go-to resource for student requests.
Hannah brings many talents and experiences, including working with and building teams as a Notre Dame athlete, and abroad, and is extremely passionate about working with the heart of Notre Dame – our students!
Welcome, Hannah! We’re so lucky to have you here.
-Meredith
Please join me in congratulating Katie Kerby on her promotion to Senior Director, Annual Giving. In this role, Katie will guide and support the teams responsible for Notre Dame’s global unrestricted fundraising campaigns and initiatives, including the Sorin Society, Rockne Athletics Fund, Order or St. Thomas More, and O’Hara Society.
Katie joined the UR Relations team in 2018 as a UR Intern and has since been successful in leading ND Listens, overseeing the Giving Programs team within Annual Giving, and most recently as Director, Annual Giving, where she helped guide the Sorin Society, Order of St. Thomas More, and O’Hara Society to record-breaking years.
Katie Kerby is a 2019 graduate of Notre Dame and is currently working on a Master of Liberal Arts in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Harvard Extension School.
The position of Director, Annual Giving will be posted in the coming days. If you are interested or know of individuals who could serve in this role, please get in touch with Adria Logan.
Congratulations, Katie!
Brandon Tabor
Dear Colleagues,
As Gift and Data Management and DIS prepare to launch AsceND on October 23, it’s paramount that our teams prioritize this work, user testing, and user acceptance. This work will take substantial staff time and effort over the next 10 weeks.
In the interim, we ask for your patience and understanding as our response time may be delayed.
Thank you,
Alyssa
Friends and Colleagues,
It’s with mixed emotions that I share the news that Brian Benedict will be leaving the University to take on a new opportunity and challenge at Rahal Racing beginning August 11th.
Brian has had a great impact over his five years in Development – as a valued member of both the Annual Giving and then Athletics Advancement teams, and his commitment to others will be missed greatly. Fortunately, while he’s leaving our team he isn’t leaving the area – and his impact will continue as a coach for the Notre Dame’s Club Men’s Lacrosse team and as a broadcaster for our Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse teams.
Please join me in congratulating Brian and wishing him well on this exciting new chapter!
Riley Koval
Friends and Colleagues,
I am very pleased to introduce you to our newest Gift Planning Officer, Chris Russell. Chris earned his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Oakland University and recently, his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School. He is an avid baker, so be sure to ask him for his favorite recipes!
Chris’s first day is today, August 7th, and his regional assignment will be determined over the coming weeks. Please say hello to Chris over the coming days at Summit and give him a warm welcome to Development!
Jessica Brice
Prospect Management and Research is thrilled to welcome Carly Schmitt to University Relations! Starting Monday, August 7, Carly will serve the Central region as our newest Prospect Management Consultant.
Carly comes to us from Purdue University, fundraising as Director of Development in Major Gifts for the John Purdue Club. Carly also contributed to the annual fund team for the John Purdue Club as a development associate starting in September 2019. Prior to her university development experience, Carly served as an account executive at Emplify and as an associate marketing manager at Roche Diagnostics.
Carly was a collegiate swimmer for Purdue. During her swimming career she qualified and competed in three events at the 2016 USA Swimming Olympic Trials, competed in multiple NCAA Championships, and Big Ten Championships. Carly is an Indiana native. Carly and her husband, Jesse, reside in South Bend, with their son, Asher (1).
Please join me in welcoming Carly!
Jonathan Retartha
Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to share the following organizational announcements:
Effective today August 4, Brad Goff will assume the role of Executive Program Director, Strategy and Insights. In this role, Brad will serve in a variety of capacities to advance and elevate our work as we move through For Good: including continued leadership on For Good analytics as well serving as a member of the Transformational Gifts team. Moreover, he will collaborate with UR leadership and teams across the division to identify core business questions and create impact-driven, mission-focused, and productivity-oriented solutions that will increase our fundraising efficiency. In this role, Brad will report to Brian Diss and primarily be located in Eddy Street Commons.
Brad has been a valued member of the University Relations team since 2007, serving in a variety of capacities in both the Alumni Association and Development. Most recently, he served as a critical member of the For Good administration team as we launched the initiative. We are grateful for Brad’s leadership and uncompromising dedication.
Also effective August 4, Amy Schell’s title will be reflected as Executive Director, Gift and Development Administration, with continued oversight of the Gift and Data Management and Development Administration teams. Amy has been a member of the University Relations team for 17 years, serving in a variety of roles in Marketing Communications, Stewardship, Annual Giving, and Gift and Data Management. She is a proven leader of high-performing, cross-functional teams with a passion for coaching and investing in her team’s professional growth.
Finally, Katherine Lane’s title will be reflected as Executive Director, Stewardship & Donor Relations, with continued oversight of the Stewardship & Donor Relations team. The constant during Katherine’s 25+ year career in Development has been stewardship, but she is also known for her direction of the Renovare Project, her management of the marketing collateral of the Spirit of Notre Dame Campaign, and her leadership of the Notre Dame Trail. Her strengths come into play best when she is caring for a key Notre Dame benefactor; whether a dedication or a funeral, Katherine embraces the family and ensures they feel the University’s gratitude.
Moving forward, the Executive title will be evaluated and utilized where job scope, experience, and past performance warrants.
Please join us in thanking Brad, Amy, and Katherine for their ongoing leadership to Notre Dame and our Development team.
Brian, Michelle, and Brandon
On Thursday, August 3, the Gift Planning Team will be out of the office participating in an off-site team day.
It is my pleasure to welcome Arnaud Zimmern (pronounced R-NO) to the Prospect & Research Strategy team as Research Analyst, effective August 1. In his new role, Arnaud will be working with the Research team to provide quality research to fundraisers and help identify process improvement opportunities in our recurring project-based work.
Arnaud received his PhD in English from Notre Dame and a BA in Mathematics, English, and World Languages from Southern Methodist University – Dallas, TX. He has spent the last 3 years as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship. You can usually find Arnaud after hours at the ND bouldering and climbing gym. If you’ve never tried climbing, he would be happy to introduce you.
We are excited to see the impact Arnaud’s skills and energy will have on our team. Please consider reaching out to Arnaud at azimmern@nd.edu to introduce yourself.
Welcome Arnaud!
Christina
(weather dependent).If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Lana Taylor
Happy birthday to all our UR employees celebrating their special days in August! Soak up the sunshine!
8/2—Colleen Cross
8/2—Adria Logan
8/1—Michelle McDaniel
8/12—Amber Cerveny
8/12—Katie Edel
8/12—Melissa Medina
8/13—Sean Carroll
8/13—Jami Radcliff
8/14—Lauren Dolzan
8/16—Brian Benedict
8/16—Michael Infantine
8/18—Tim Kelly
8/18—Brandon Stewart
8/19—TJ Alford
8/19—Brent Henningfeld
8/19—Julia Sama
8/20—Marty Harshman
8/22—Jennifer Milliron
8/23—Shaheen Goldrick
8/23—Amanda Retartha
8/24—Mary Lake
8/27—George West
8/30—Abbey Johnson
8/30—Molly Lenaburg
8/30—Michelle Varda