Please join the Stewardship & Donor Relations team in offering your prayers and condolences to our friend and colleague Rosie McDowell, Financial Aid Stewardship Program Director. Rosie’s much-beloved father, Terry Riordan, Sr., passed away unexpectedly last week. Visitation and services will take place in South Bend on Friday, Feb. 9th and Saturday, Feb. 10th.

Obituary for Terry Riordan, Sr.

Cristi Ganyard

Dear colleagues,

I write to share the news that Katie Eckrich has made the decision to leave Notre Dame. Her last day with the University was February 1.

Katie has been a valued member of the Northwest team during her 4+ years of service to Notre Dame, engaging benefactors throughout Northern CA and Reno and bringing those constituents closer to the University. We are grateful for her service in advancing the mission of Notre Dame.

Gratefully,
Sean

Today, I have the bittersweet task of sharing the retirement of our good friend and colleague, Chris DeTrempe, who has been an integral part of Notre Dame for the past 18 years.

Chris has been a dedicated member of the Gift Planning team for 15 of those years, contributing significantly to advancing the University’s mission and building lasting relationships with those we serve. Beyond his professional achievements, Chris is known for his kindness, generosity, and willingness to share his expertise with others. He is a beloved member of our team.

As Chris embarks on this next chapter in his life with Corrine, he will be taking on a new role as the Vice President of Development for the March for Life organization, with plans to move to Florida in the coming year. His last day in office will be February 16th.

Please join me in thanking Chris for his faithful dedication to our team and benefactors.

Dear Colleagues,

Please join me in congratulating Patty Herrity on her promotion to the Sr. Director of Gift and Data Management effective February 1.

Patty has been a longstanding member of the Gift Management team, serving in a variety of capacities including leading the first ever data integrity team, and, most recently, overseeing the gift operations team. She has been an integral part of our gift management operations, always pushing the team to try new things, improving our processes, and bringing levity to our team meetings. Patty, who is a 1997 graduate of Notre Dame, has been at the University for 19 years and a member of the development team for 13 years.

Reporting directly to Patty in her new role will be Meg Buysse (focusing on asceND, pledge communications, and ongoing process improvement projects), Jessica Witous (leader of gift processing and biographical updates), Alyssa Strbjak (leader of gift management communications) and the Audit and Compliance Program Director (formerly held by Colleen Bailey-Knapke prior to her transition to the Gift Planning team). The posting for the Audit and Compliance Program Director will be posted in the coming days. If you have anyone you know of who may be interested in this leadership role, please contact Beth Graybill or Patty Herrity.

In Notre Dame,
Amy Schell

Happy birthday to all our UR employees celebrating their special days in February! We hope this new year brings you lots of love!

2/2—Kim Biagini
2/3—Shelby Carroll
2/3—Katie Sphor
2/3—Alyssa Strbjak
2/4—Becky Kincaid
2/8—Davida Kozlowski
2/9—Steven Asiala
2/9—Shinnell Lee
2/10—Cat Edmonds
2/10—Jessica Reasons
2/10—Chris Russell
2/12—Aaron Wall
2/13—Christa LeeVan
2/16—Matt Abernathy
2/17—Allie Griffith
2/20—Riley Koval
2/21—Ashley Bennett
2/21—Ashley Moeller
2/21—Kara Primmer
2/23—Heather Moriconi
2/23—Anu Osinubi
2/24—Shannon Longo
2/24—Hannah Thompson
2/25—Stephanie Mead
2/27—Hilary Ott
2/27—Amy Schell
2/29—Bill Kempf

Team,

I’m thrilled to share with you that we have hired Caitlin Kleinsmith as Dolly’s Senior Coordinator. She will begin with us on February 12. Caitlin comes to us from Meridian Title Corp. and her career includes experience in customer service, accounting, planning, and administrative processes.

She’s married to Bruno Martinsky has a seven-year-old stepson Caden, and a miniature poodle named Bentley. They reside in South Bend.

Please join me in welcoming Caitlin.

Thanks,

Mark Witucki

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I write to share the news that Vahid Sadrzadeh will be leaving Notre Dame to pursue new opportunities that will allow him to spend more time with his family, including his father in California who is battling Parkinson’s. His last day with the University will be next Friday, February 2nd.

Vahid has been a valued member of the NY Metro team in his nearly three years of service to the University. During his time with Development, he has brought a number of benefactors to closer engagement with the University, and we are grateful for all he has done to advance the mission of Notre Dame.

Please join me in thanking Vahid and wishing him well in his future endeavors.

All the best,

Joe

With almost two weeks of gift processing under our belts, the Gift and Data Management team will be using Friday, January 26th as an opportunity to assess lessons learned, work on individual backlog items, and ensure processes implemented will be sustainable as we ramp up for fundraising initiatives coming in the next few weeks. We will not be processing gifts or pledges on Friday but will have coverage of our 1-5150 phone line and givegift@nd.edu email. We will return to our regular processing on Monday January 29th.

Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday, we started sending our 2023 Giving Statements electronically. The initial send was a subset of the overall population of 22,000+, which was comprised of payroll deduction donors, ND DAF donors, and a small sampling of donors that give through multiple pipelines (ie. stock gifts, IRAs, etc.)

The subject line is 2023 Charitable Giving Tax Statement: University of Notre Dame, and the sender was the University of Notre Dame using the givegift@nd.edu.

We anticipate all electronic copies to be sent by EOD today, January 23. All hard copies will be sent before Wednesday, January 31.

If your benefactors have questions, please encourage them to search by the subject line, sender, and/or send date (1/22 and 1/23).

FAQs and other pertinent information regarding 2023 cumulative giving letters can be found here.

Thank you,
Alyssa Strbjak

Please join me in welcoming Michael Stark to the ND Development team as a Regional Director on the Northwest Team! Michael’s first day will be Monday, January 22.

Michael is a 2009 Notre Dame alumni from the Mendoza College of Business, where he earned a BBA in Marketing. That wasn’t enough for Michael, so he later went on to earn his J.D. and M.B.A. from Loyola University Chicago; remarkably, he completed law school during the day while completing his MBA work at night in 3 years. In doing this, Michael pioneered Loyola’s MBA/JD program. Michael has worked extensively with not-for-profits and tech startups with a particular focus on social impact. In his career as a fundraiser, entrepreneur, investor, and community leader, Michael has championed creative people, ideas, and organizations with the potential for transformative impact globally.

Michael grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago, a 3rd generation Notre Dame alumni on both sides of his family! Michael’s family was one of the first to adopt a child from China when it opened up the West and subsequently took in 50+ foster children from all over the world. Through this experience, he has learned that everyone has a story to tell and something to contribute. Michael is grateful for what Notre Dame has meant to his family and the presence the University has been in his life.

Outside of work and family, Michael’s hobbies and interests include traveling, reading, basketball, legos, art, podcasts, and public speaking. He is, most importantly, a dedicated father to Stella (5) and Jude (2.5).

Please join me in welcoming Michael to the team!

Sean