Colleagues,

The Development Information Technology and Services team is excited though saddened to announce the retirement of Larry Helmsing. Over the past 10 years in Development, Larry has advanced our IT infrastructure and services that have moved us forward in ways that often go unnoticed. For those of us that have worked directly with Larry, we will miss such a valuable team member who lived out Notre Dame’s mission every day.

Larry’s last day will be Friday May 28th. Please contact Andrew Yocum or submit a service now ticket for anything you might have contacted Larry for in the past. We are currently reviewing candidates for replacing this position. Please join us in thanking Larry for many years of faithful service and wish him a wonderful snowy retirement.

– Andrew Yocum

Colleagues,

It is with mixed emotions that I announce the resignation of Maribeth Spittler from the University of Notre Dame effective Friday, May 14, 2021. Maribeth has decided to retire to enjoy time with family, friends, and life! Maribeth has been an integral part of Notre Dame Development for the past twelve years. Her contributions, hard work, commitment, dedication, and grace are worthy of admiration. Maribeth will be greatly missed by all. Filling her shoes will be an almost impossible task. Maribeth is a friend, and I wish her all the luck in the future. Please join me in wishing Maribeth well in this next chapter of her life!

God Bless and Go Irish!

Anita Sareen

I am excited to announce that Vahid Sadrzadeh has joined the NY Metro team as a regional director, working with benefactors in New York.

Since 2016, Vahid has worked as an award-winning anchor, reporter and storyteller at ABC57 in South Bend. He is proud to call Notre Dame home and feels called to serve this mission. Vahid is married to University Relations’ own Heather Sadrzadeh of the Alumni Association. Fun facts: Vahid is an Ironman triathlete and a four-time marathon finisher!

Please join me in welcoming Vahid to the UR team.

Thank you,
Ryan

I am excited to announce that Nadia Erickson has joined the Southwest team as regional director, working with benefactors in Southern California. She starts on Monday, May 3rd.

Nadia joins us from a long career in athletics. She previously served as the DePaul University Head Coach for Women’s Volleyball for seven years and spent the last four years focusing on helping student-athletics and their families navigate the recruiting process for intercollegiate athletics.

Nadia graduated from Penn State in 2001 with a degree in Business Marketing and received her Master’s in Sports Administration from Northwestern University in 2019. While at Penn State, Nadia played volleyball and won a National Championship.

I am thrilled to welcome Nadia to the Notre Dame family and the Southwest team. Please join me in welcoming her to the UR team!

Best,

Shelby

I write today to share the news that Mary Frank will be leaving the University of Notre Dame to return to her former vocation as a high school English teacher for the Fairfax County Public School system. Mary joined the University as a Regional Development Coordinator in the summer of 2019, alongside her fiancé Conor White, a ’21 graduate of the MBA program. Mary and Conor plan to marry in June.

Mary has been an amazing colleague who will be missed by her fundraisers as well as the entire DC team. Please join me in wishing her all the best as she moves on to the next chapter of her life. Her final day will be April 30.

God Bless and Go Irish!

Angie Dennig

Colleagues,

Please join me in congratulating Pablo Martinez and his appointment as the Director of our newly formed Sorin Society Giving team. This team is charged with the growth of Sorin Society membership and revenue, as well as the marketing, stewardship, and experiences offered to the members of Notre Dame’s largest giving society.

Pablo has been a valued member of the Annual Giving team for 10 years, leading initiatives and programs including the Phone Center, reunion giving, matching gifts, and Notre Dame Day in that timeframe. Most recently, Pablo has served as an Associate Director of Development focusing on individual asks for giving society gifts, this year alone raising $380k in incremental unrestricted dollars as well as a leadership gift for financial aid. A 2011 Notre Dame graduate, Pablo got his start as a student caller in the Phone Center.

The newly formed Sorin Society team will consist of:

Conor Montijo, who continues to oversee the operations, mass solicitation, lead generation, and stewardship experience of the Sorin Society. Conor is also the primary contact for Regional Directors on Sorin Society renewal, new, and upgrade asks; Austin Gammage and Leah Corachea as Leadership Annual Giving officers focused on driving incremental unrestricted growth through individual fundraising; and Darlean Vance, Donor Experience Coordinator. Dar provides frontline customer service via email and phone for members of all giving societies.

Please reach out to any of these fine colleagues with any questions regarding the Sorin Society.

Best,
Brian

This year’s Triduum services (Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday) will be held in the Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center instead of the Basilica to safely accommodate as many members of the campus community as possible.

Attendance to these Triduum services will be ticketed by assigned seat only. With a limited number of seats available, all tickets will be distributed to students followed by faculty and staff, as space allows.

Now that the student ticket request timeline has passed, tickets are available to faculty and staff. As space allows, faculty and staff have the opportunity to request two tickets which will allow them to be joined by a family member from their household. Please note that the two tickets will not be adjoining seats but rather be separated by a few empty seats per safety protocol.

The faculty and staff ticket request form will be open from 8 a.m. Thursday, March 25 through 5 p.m. Monday, March 29, or until capacity has been reached. This form will be available on the Campus Ministry website.

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart will offer an adjusted Mass schedule and implement a reservation request system for Easter Sunday. The request form will open at 8 a.m. on March 22 and close at noon on March 24.

Visit campusministry.nd.edu/holyweek-easter for complete details.

Dear Colleagues,

Please review the year-end memo 2020 Year End Memo for important deadlines, instructions for wire/stock gifts, staffing coverage, and other relevant information associated with year-end operations.

Gift and Data Management looks forward to closing out strong with you in 2020!

– Amy Schell

It is with mixed emotions that I write to share that after 9 1/2 years as a member of our development team, Nathan Utz will be leaving Notre Dame to assume the position of Vice President for Industry Partnerships at Purdue University effective December 14, 2020. Special thanks to Nathan for his tireless efforts as the inaugural academic advancement director in the College of Engineering, and for his 4 1/2 years as the senior director of corporate relations. Under Nathan’s leadership, corporate relations has had several record years of production. Please join me in thanking Nathan for his service and congratulating him on his new role as a Boilermaker.

I would also like to announce that Josh Tullis has accepted the role of Interim Senior Director of Corporate Relations. Josh has been an integral member of our corporate relations team for the past four years, and led our pioneering efforts to establish the Notre Dame – IBM Tech Ethics Lab with an historic grant of $20M from IBM in 2020. He earned his BS from ND in 1996 and his Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from ND in 1999. Special thanks to Josh for taking on this important role.

-Drew Buscareno