As Colombia stands at a historic threshold in the implementation of its 2016 Final Peace Agreement, decisions made in the coming months will be important for shaping the continuity and long-term sustainability of the peace process amid a changing political and institutional context, according to a new report by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

The report comes from the Institute’s Peace Accords Matrix (PAM), highlighting the high stakes of the nation’s current political transition. Published through the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, the report — titled “Ninth Year of Implementation: Trends and Keys for the Political Transition” — arrives at a critical moment as the current administration ends and a new administration and a reconfigured Congress take office. Their decisions will shape the country’s path for the next four years.

Drawing on data collected by PAM’s Barometer Initiative between December 2024 and November 2025, the findings reveal that while 36 percent of the 2016 Final Accord’s 578 stipulations have reached full implementation, work continues as the accord enters a pivotal phase of execution. The institute’s analysis further underscores a persistent gap in the “comprehensiveness” of the implementation, particularly regarding the gender and ethnic approaches. Within these findings, the report offers a strategic road map for the current and incoming administration, proposing 16 strategic actions to support the continuity and stability of the implementation process.

“The narrative of the ninth year of implementation is a story of profound tension between institutional ambition and the lived reality of conflict,” said Josefina Echavarría Álvarez, director of PAM. This tension is illustrated by striking contrasts: On one hand, the report documented the adjudication of 40,052 hectares of land until October 2025 — a figure representing more than half of the total land adjudicated since the signing of the accord. In addition, the legal landscape saw a major shift as the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) issued its first two restorative sentences and the conclusion of the first adversarial trial, providing a long-awaited measure of justice for victims of the former guerrilla group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and retired military members.

At the same time, these developments also highlight ongoing implementation challenges, including the importance of institutional coordination between the national government, the JEP and territorial authorities for the implementation of restorative sanctions.

Despite the entry into force of a landmark law to prevent and punish violence against women in politics and the consolidation of 20 peace radio stations, only 13 percent of gender-focused stipulations and 14 percent of ethnic-focused commitments have reached full implementation. With nearly 43 percent of the overall agreement still sitting in a "minimum" or "not initiated" status, the report warns that the window to fulfill the accord's promises within the established timeframe is narrowing, leaving the most marginalized victims of the conflict still waiting for the process to yield tangible results.

The report emphasizes that the 2016 accord must be treated as a permanent “state policy” that transcends political cycles. Ángela Ramírez Rincón, executive director of the Barometer Initiative in Colombia, shares how “stable and lasting peace depends on the sustained implementation of the Peace Accord as a state policy that transcends the political will of any single administration.”

The report also highlights the need to reestablish the Presidential Office for the Implementation of the Peace Accord and to ensure the strict alignment of the 2026-2030 National Development Plan with the Framework Plan for Implementation. By bridging the gap between high-level planning and effective budgetary execution, the report maintains that Colombia can navigate this transition and finally provide the visible, verifiable results necessary to sustain public trust in the territories most affected by the conflict.

Alongside the full Spanish report, the Kroc Institute produced an executive summary in English highlighting key points of the report and has released all its original data for other scholars to utilize in their work. Later this summer, the Barometer Initiative will also release a series of regional reports.

The Kroc Institute has released nine prior reports on the status of overall implementation, as well as four reports on implementation of gender provisions, three reports on implementation of ethnic provisions, a special report on the implementation of the Final Agreement from the perspective of victims’ rights and a special report on the environmental challenges.

All reports can be reviewed here.

Originally published by Jena O'Brien at kroc.nd.edu on May 13.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Xavier Navarro Aquino, assistant professor of English, unexpectedly died Wednesday (May 6). He was 36.

An acclaimed novelist and beloved teacher, mentor and colleague, Navarro Aquino was a member of the Creative Writing Program and a faculty fellow of the Institute for Latino Studies and the Initiative on Race and Resilience.

“Xavier’s writing and artwork communicate with absolute clarity his humane and painterly care for the world in all its damage and beauty,” said Joyelle McSweeney, chair of the Department of English and former director of the Creative Writing Program. “His evident joy and commitment as a teacher inspired joy and commitment in his students, and his immediate legacy will be as an artist whose sense of beauty will be carried outwards to his readers, and to his students, and to their future readers. His loss is immeasurable.”

Navarro Aquino’s debut novel, “Velorio,” takes place in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s devastation in Puerto Rico. The novel earned high praise from a range of media outlets, with the New York Times Book Review calling Aquino “an incredibly talented young writer,” and the Chicago Review of Books describing it as a “complex, politically engaged work and deeply human story.”

“‘Velorio’ is a beautiful, poetic novel — reminiscent of William Faulkner’s classic ‘The Sound and the Fury,’” said Johannes Göransson, a professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program. “His attention to language is the kind of writing we might associate with a poet.”

Navarro Aquino was awarded a Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference scholarship, a Tennessee Williams scholarship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, a MacDowell Fellowship and an American Council of Learned Societies Emerging Voices Fellowship at Dartmouth College. He was named a Fall 2021 Writer to Watch by Publishers Weekly. His fiction also appeared in Tin House magazine, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern and Guernica.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Navarro Aquino earned his bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University, a master’s degree in English and Caribbean studies from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras and his Ph.D. in literature and creative writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2021.

“Despite all of the early acclaim, Xavier was very humble and self-effacing. Our conversations were more often about soccer, or running or tattoos than his writing,” said Mark Sanders, a professor of English, professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies and director of IRR at the time Navarro Aquino was hired. “Xavier was a dedicated teacher, an enormously talented writer and a warm and caring human being. His fiction reflected his care for the world, as ‘Velorio’ can be read as a cautionary tale about how not to treat one another under the most trying conditions. He was dedicated to representing Puerto Rico and to supporting universal human rights.”

A devoted and enthusiastic presence in the classroom, Navarro Aquino taught courses on fiction writing, the American short story, literary debuts and the role of storytelling in addressing modern, pressing issues. He directed both MFA and undergraduate honors theses. In recent years, he had become exceptionally passionate about painting.

Jason Ruiz, a professor of American studies and director of the Institute for Latino Studies, fondly recalls a visit Navarro Aquino made this semester to his course, The Cutting Edge in Latino Studies Research. Amidst a lively conversation about his life and work, Navarro Aquino also shared his short story, “Two Young Kings,” which Ruiz described as “brilliant and devastating.”

“I already admired Xavier as a writer and teacher, but the class session really floored me, as he showed a wonderfully open, honest and intelligent approach to his work and his vision for Latino literature,” Ruiz said. “He was the kind of professor who elevated our ongoing conversations around Latinidad and inspired the students and me to be ever more thoughtful in our approach to a complex subject matter that touches the very cores of our identities.

“He was not in any way precious about his work but embraced just about anything that we, the readers, could find in it. Xavier was an irreplaceable member of our community and his loss will be felt for a long time to come.”

Navarro Aquino is survived by his wife, Jayleen Santiago Diaz.

A memorial Mass will be held at 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 18, in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, with University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., presiding.

Condolences may be sent to the Department of English, 233 Decio Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556.

University of Notre Dame alumnus Paul Popiel, D.M.A., will return to his alma mater to lead the oldest continuously operating collegiate band in the country as Kenn and Pamela Ricci Director of Bands. In this role, Popiel will oversee the University’s band program through the Division of Student Affairs, and serve as a faculty member in the Department of Music through the College of Arts & Letters. His appointment begins July 1.

Since 2023, Popiel has served as the dean of the School of Music at the University of Kansas (KU), where he led efforts to better align academic goals with university initiatives and actively pursued the integration of emerging technology into course curricula. Previously, Popiel worked at KU for 13 years as a professor of music and director of bands. He also served as an assistant director of bands and senior lecturer at Indiana University and as an assistant professor and associate director of bands at Oklahoma State University.

“For more than 20 years, Paul has worked to build collegiate music programs that value tradition and excellence, and that encourage innovation and leadership among students,” said Rev. Gerry Olinger, C.S.C., vice president for student affairs. “I look forward to Paul returning to Notre Dame to share his gifts with our students and our historic band program.”

At Notre Dame, Popiel succeeds a legacy of leadership, including longtime band director Ken Dye, Ed.D., who will formally retire at the end of the 2025-26 academic year.

Popiel will direct the entirety of the band program, which includes the Band of the Fighting Irish, athletic bands, concert bands and jazz bands, and features more than 500 students from every academic discipline. The all-volunteer organization provides music for a variety of University events throughout the academic year, including liturgies, sporting events and the annual Commencement Ceremony.

“Paul Popiel will bring a distinguished record of pedagogical excellence, dedicated mentorship and a spirit of artistic collaboration to the growing performance program of the Notre Dame Department of Music,” said John T. McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost. “We are pleased to welcome him back to his alma mater in this important role.”

“Returning to Notre Dame is a profound homecoming to a place that shaped my vocation and values,” Popiel said. “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve an institution with such a rich musical and educational tradition, and I look forward to leading a band program whose legacy continues to inspire through artistic excellence, thoughtful engagement with the world and the formation of students as musicians, leaders and servants of the common good.”

Popiel earned his master’s degree in trumpet performance from the University of Notre Dame and bachelor’s degrees in instrumental music education and trumpet performance from Truman State University. He holds a doctorate in musical arts in wind conducting from Michigan State University and an arts diploma in 20th Century Music from the University of Bristol, where he served as a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the American Bandmasters Association.

To learn more about the Notre Dame Band, visit https://band.nd.edu/.

While widely recognized as the leading global catholic research university, the University of Notre Dame is committed to offering an unsurpassed undergraduate experience, one that nurtures the formation of the mind, body and spirit. In fact, undergraduate education and formation is among the University’s four central goals, as outlined in "Notre Dame 2033: A Strategic Framework."

In addition to the teaching and guidance offered by faculty in the classroom, undergraduates enjoy a rich community life, bolstered by opportunities for social, intellectual and faith-based engagement. More than half of all undergraduates participate in original research with a faculty mentor.

Whether examining the causes and conditions of mass atrocities, tutoring local schoolchildren, volunteering at a men’s prison or running to save lives, these members of the class of 2026 exemplify this commitment. Formed by a rich education and possessed of mature faith in service to others, they leave Notre Dame prepared to take their places at the forefront of discovery, innovation and human achievement.

Bernice Antoine

Business analytics major Bernice Antoine hopes to establish the first sustainable waste management company in her country of Trinidad and Tobago. She was named a 30 under 30 Caribbean Changemaker and served as a Caribbean Climate Ambassador for the Caribbean Youth Climate Council. A leader in sustainability and service at Notre Dame, Antoine founded Planet Plate, a sustainability initiative and is launching Caribbean Development Group, a nonprofit which aims to teach youth practical sustainability skills.

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Lizbeth Cordova Lopez

Lizbeth Cordova Lopez, a psychology major with a supplemental major in education, schooling and society, has made the most of her time at Notre Dame. Now, she has one key piece of advice for first-year students: Trust that the things you’re passionate about will lead you somewhere meaningful. For Cordova Lopez, a first-generation college student and AnBryce Scholar, that meant researching incarceration in the United States and how it impacts families, especially children with parents who are incarcerated. “Those children are at a much higher risk of dropping out of school and are much less likely to attend college,” she said. “And that’s something I’d like to change.”
 

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Charlie Desnoyers

A McNeill Common Good Fellow with the Institute for Social Concerns, Charlie Desnoyers, a chemistry major from suburban Chicago, has spent nearly as much time in the lab as in the classroom during his four years at Notre Dame. “Charlie is everything you’d want to see in an undergraduate research colleague — smart, innately curious and genuinely excited about research,” said Paul Bohn, the Arthur J. Schmitt Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Notre Dame. A recipient of the Dr. Norbert L. Weich Award for undergraduate research, Desnoyers will investigate light-matter interactions at the nanoscale as a doctoral student in chemistry at Northwestern University starting this fall.

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Mustafa Hess

Hess, a global affairs major in the Keough School of Global Affairs with minors in peace studies and French, has let curiosity and a thirst for knowledge guide his Notre Dame experience. He has explored the myriad events and opportunities offered on campus, all while being deeply invested in his research on genocide and mass atrocities in the Kellogg Institute with professor Ernesto Verdeja. Through Notre Dame, he has traversed the United States and Europe, allowing him to connect his investigations with their real-world examples.

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Eva Romero

Economics major Eva Romero hopes that her work studying the causes, mitigation efforts and impact of policy surrounding poverty will enable other first-generation, low-income students to pursue — and complete — their college degrees. She believes that getting a good education is one of the best ways to break the generational cycle of poverty; and, in this effort, she hopes to lead by example. Not only is Romero an AnBryce Scholar, a Cavanaugh Council and President’s Circle Scholar, and a Poverty Research Fellow through the University's Poverty Initiative, but she is also an avid performer in several campus dance troupes including TroopND Dance Team, RitmoND and Ballet Folklórico Azúl y Oro.

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Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E., president of the Pontifical Commission and Governorate of Vatican City State, will be the principal speaker and will receive an honorary degree. Timothy P. Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, will receive the 2026 Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics.

Notre Dame will confer six additional honorary degrees on distinguished leaders in engineering, business, history, humanitarian efforts and the Church at the University Commencement Ceremony: Marguerite Barankitse, a humanitarian leader and founder of Maison Shalom; Mary Boyce, provost emerita and professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University; Eamon Duffy, an emeritus professor of the history of Christianity at the University of Cambridge and a former president and fellow of Magdalene College at Cambridge; Christopher J. Murphy III, executive chairman of 1st Source Bank; J. Christopher Reyes, co-founder and chair of Reyes Holdings LLC; and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., the sixth archbishop of Newark.

Martin Soros, a civil engineering major with minors in theology and education, schooling and society and a native of Bethesda, Maryland, will deliver the valedictory address. Salutatorian Allison Elshoff, a business analytics major with minors in the Hesburgh Program in Public Service, the Business Honors Program and impact consulting from Valencia, California, will offer the invocation.

Cardinal Tobin will offer the benediction.

On Saturday, 548 students will receive master’s and doctoral degrees at the Graduate School Commencement Ceremony, along with 462 master’s degree students at the Mendoza College of Business ceremony and 203 at the Law School ceremony. The University will confer 2,120 degrees on undergraduate students at Sunday’s ceremony.

Weather permitting, graduates will process into the stadium at 9 a.m. Sunday, and the University Commencement Ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. All guests must have an e-ticket for admission.

The Commencement Mass will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday in Purcell Pavilion, with University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., presiding.

The Commencement Mass, University Commencement Ceremony and certain diploma/hooding ceremonies will be livestreamed. A complete schedule of events is available on the Commencement website, and senior stories and other features can be found here.

Many common items will not be allowed in the stadium during Sunday’s ceremony. Visit the Commencement website for a complete list of prohibited items. In the event of severe weather, ceremonies will be moved indoors to the Joyce Center. Should weather conditions necessitate a move indoors, the University will communicate changes online and via ND Alert messages, social media and local news outlets.

Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, 574-993-9220, c.gates@nd.edu

When Lizbeth Cordova Lopez looked over a list of colleges from her high school counselor, a crooked stroke of a highlighter drew her attention to one school: the University of Notre Dame.

At the time, Cordova Lopez, who is from Sylmar, California, thought she would go to nearby UCLA. But her counselor had encouraged her to consider colleges outside her home state as well and highlighted various schools.

“I don’t know if her marker ran out or if the paper shifted, but the highlighting was jagged,” she said. “And, I just impulsively thought, ‘Oh, I’ll apply to that school — maybe there’s a reason this one stands out from the rest.’”

That one stray mark became the start of Cordova Lopez’s Notre Dame journey.

As Cordova Lopez learned more about the University, she was drawn to its Catholic identity and values — but it was her first visit to campus for admitted students day that helped her finalize the decision.

“Stepping onto this campus for the first time was the most magical feeling,” she said. “Everyone was so welcoming, and everyone we met was doing such incredible things. After you experience Notre Dame, it’s hard to go back because it shows you there’s so much more.”

That fall, she and 12 members of her family — grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins — drove in two cars from Southern California to campus to help her move in.

Four years later, her family will return, even larger in number, to cheer her on at Commencement.

Cordova Lopez, a psychology major with a supplemental major in education, schooling and society, has made the most of those four years. But now, as a mentor to first-year students at Notre Dame through the Building Bridges program, she has one key piece of advice for them: Trust that the things you’re passionate about will lead you somewhere meaningful.

“Once you start doing that, it opens doors that you can’t even imagine,” she said. “So, take the classes that seem interesting, follow your passions and then build from there.”

For Cordova Lopez, that meant starting from a personal experience that shaped her childhood: When she was 3 years old, her father was incarcerated and spent the next 13 years in prison.

“I wanted to understand more about how the system works and why — as well as what happens to the children of those who are incarcerated,” she said. “Those children are at a much higher risk of dropping out of school and are much less likely to attend college. And that’s something I’d like to change.”

Cordova Lopez, a first-generation college student and AnBryce Scholar, began researching incarceration the summer after her first year, as she worked with women in a correctional facility in Ohio and in transitional housing. The internship, offered by the University’s Institute for Social Concerns, allowed her to gain hands-on experience in reentry programming and inspired her to delve deeper.

As a sophomore, she took a class called Mass Incarceration Research Lab and began conducting research in the Building Resilience After Violence Exposure (BRAVE) Lab and then the Childhood and Adolescence Resilience (CARE) Lab. The following summer, she traveled to Norway with funding from the Nanovic Institute for European Studies to explore the country’s unique approach to incarceration that focuses on rehabilitation and reintegration.

Her research experiences culminated in a senior thesis project this year on the joint impact of parental and school involvement on children’s academic resilience, particularly in the context of economic hardship.

The summer after her junior year, Cordova Lopez studied abroad in South Africa, where she explored themes of apartheid and othering, and in China, examining the philosophy of science.

She has also been deeply involved in the local community, working with children in South Bend schools through the Tutor-ND program, volunteering at the Robinson Community Learning Center and engaging with Campus Ministry’s Mercy Works. Her involvement began at Dismas House — a home for those in transition after prison — and has since grown into a role as an anchor intern, where she helps lead orientations that send students to service sites across the community.

After graduation, she will attend Stanford University to complete a master’s in policy, organization and leadership studies, through their graduate school of education, before pursuing a graduate program in clinical psychology.

“My goals in life are to start a nonprofit focused on children of incarcerated parents to help them gain access to equitable education and to help children navigate trauma and adversity,” she said. “Having one less parent always leaves some type of void, but I was lucky enough to have a lot of extra support from my family, and that helped so much. I want to focus my career on helping children who may not have that support system.”

The Notre Dame community has not only prepared her to reach those goals, she said, but — more importantly — has become a second family to her along the way.

“Notre Dame does a beautiful job of just being there for one another,” she said. “I’ve felt this overwhelming sense of love and support from everyone here from the beginning. And now, I want to take that feeling with me and help spread it wherever I go.

“Notre Dame has given me a sense of hope for my future — and for the future of the children I hope to serve someday.”

“My ultimate goal is to establish the first sustainable waste management company in my country of Trinidad and Tobago.”

For Notre Dame senior Bernice Antoine, that goal didn’t originate in a classroom — it began at dawn in a rural Indian village, collecting waste by hand.

As a first-year student, Antoine spent two months working in a fully sustainable ecovillage through NDBridge. Under the guidance of monks, she helped develop composting systems and worked with a biogas chamber using anaerobic digestion. Each morning, she gathered waste from villagers, testing decomposition rates and monitoring odor in compost bins.

“We weren’t just learning about sustainability — we were living it,” she said.

The experience extended beyond waste management. Antoine worked in a gaushala caring for cows, helped repurpose old saris into reusable bags, planted seeds and crafted diyas (oil lamps) from natural materials.

She also visited a farmer suicide prevention program, where she learned how climate change and poor crop yields were devastating agricultural communities.

“That was when it became real for me,” Antoine said. “Sustainability isn’t abstract — it’s directly tied to people’s lives.”

Now a senior business analytics major with a triple minor in sustainability, social entrepreneurship and innovation and the Business Honors Program, Antoine has built an academic path to match that mission. She has also taken her global learning further, studying Chinese medicine in Hong Kong and Hindi in India to better connect with her community at home.

Antoine was named a 30 under 30 Caribbean Changemaker by Ignite Caribbean and served as a Caribbean Climate Ambassador for the Caribbean Youth Climate Council.

On campus, she has emerged as a leader in sustainability and service. She founded Planet Plate, a sustainability initiative, and serves in multiple leadership roles, including as a McNeill Justice Fellow, Kellogg International Scholar, class representative on the Mendoza Academic Council, club officer of GreeND and chair of the Student Advisory Committee for the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative, hosting the inaugural Sustainability Action Fair assembling environmental organizations from South Bend and campus, with a focus on teaching individual skills like “intro to microgarden,” “plant propagation” and “how to build a wind turbine.”

Her work has earned recognition including the John W. Gardner Student Leadership Award, Martin Luther King Jr. Black Excellence Award, Outstanding Social Entrepreneur, Lou Holtz Leadership Award, Grow the Good in Business Undergraduate Women in Business, Frazier Thompson Community Empowerment Award and Global Game Changer.

Even in her residence hall, Antoine puts her values into practice. She maintains a small vegetable garden, growing broccoli and basil. She saves food scraps to feed worms in a horticulture class as part of her hands-on approach to sustainability.

After graduation, Antoine will join Boston Consulting Group while launching her nonprofit, Caribbean Development Group, which aims to teach youth practical sustainability skills like composting and micro-gardening.

But her long-term vision remains rooted in home.

“I want to build something that changes how we think about waste in Trinidad and Tobago,” she said. “Not just managing it — but transforming it into opportunity.”

Mustafa Hess has made the most of his four years on campus, though he admits he didn’t start taking advantage of all Notre Dame has to offer until his junior year.

“It wasn’t until spring semester of junior year where I was thinking to myself, I’ve been here for two and a half years, I don’t have that much time left. … I want to set a goal for myself of how I can enjoy myself and how I can meet other people by forcing myself to do that.”

And so he did.

Since diving into the array of events and activities available to students, he has become known among his peers in Dunne Hall for his “side quests.” When he’s not deeply invested in researching the causes and conditions of human rights violations and mass atrocities through the Kellogg Institute, he can be found going to Irish folk music performances, checking out the observatory in Jordan Hall or attending residence hall events.

A self-proclaimed perfectionist, Hess initially found the work-life balance of college challenging, but he came up with a concrete plan to improve his social life.

“It was really a matter of switching my perspective on work and trying to balance my relationships and learning that there will always be an amount of work that you can do, and it’s kind of endless. You have to accept what you can do, and that what you do is enough, and spend that time and energy with people trying to connect and have good relations.”

The Round Rock, Texas, native majoring in global affairs with minors in peace studies and French has trekked across the United States and Europe through opportunities afforded by Notre Dame. Summer 2024 brought him to Brest, France, for six weeks at a language immersion school. Later, he joined a tour through the American South with the Institute for Social Concerns, focusing on important civil rights landmarks: Jackson, Mississippi; Selma, Alabama; Birmingham, Alabama; and Memphis, Tennessee. Two other history courses took him back to France, then Belgium, Germany and Poland. Those latter experiences touring Holocaust sites proved instrumental for connecting his research to its real-world examples.

One of the biggest influences on Hess during his time on campus was training and competing in the annual Bengal Bouts boxing tournament, which raises money for the Holy Cross Missions in Bangladesh. His original goal for his senior year was to be a resident assistant, and boxing was not on his radar. Plans changed — he did not become a resident assistant — but his endless motivation didn’t.

“I was thinking, ‘OK, if I don’t become an RA, I’ll do Bengal Bouts my senior year.’ And that was, for the most part, a joke,” Hess said.

“Boxing was the first time that I really felt pushed to do something. Hearing from the coaches, them giving us workouts and telling us things to do — both back at home and then also here for the men’s boxing club — has this aspect that you’re getting pushed to a certain limit. Because if someone is telling you to do this, you believe you can do it, and that push and that struggle was something that really attracted me.”

Though his Bengal Bouts run ended in the quarterfinal, he is grateful for the community he formed through this new experience and looks forward to what challenges he can tackle next as a consultant at IBM in Chicago.

The memories and friendships he formed at Dunne Hall are some of his most treasured moments from his time on campus. “Getting to know most people in your dorm of over 200 people is just a very nice feeling and a very welcoming sense. … That was one of the main pulls for me to stay on campus and live as an on-campus senior, because that’s been the core of my social life.”

Graduating senior Eva Romero knows her facts. “Fewer than 60 percent of students in the United States who enroll full-time at a four-year school will graduate with a bachelor’s degree within six years,” she said, “and the challenge is even greater for low-income students.”

According to research from Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), where Romero served as a research operations intern, only 26 percent of students in the lowest quarter of incomes will complete their bachelor’s degree within six years.

“How do we help increase that number, especially for first-generation, low-income students of color?” Romero asked.

The question is something that Romero, a first-generation student herself and daughter of parents who immigrated to Chicago from Guadalajara, Mexico, holds near and dear to her heart.

“My parents have always instilled in me that education is your way out of poverty,” Romero said. “It’s the only way to break the generational cycle.”

This belief led her to major in economics and minor in accountancy and data science. From there, Romero worked with LEO on a variety of projects, including a nonprofit organization in California called 10,000 Degrees College Success program, which helps low-income students find scholarships and the necessary tools to complete their bachelor’s degrees.

During the summer between her junior and senior years, Romero became a Poverty Research Fellow, a student formation program through the University’s Poverty Initiative that allows students from all academic disciplines to participate in anti-poverty work.

This particular work resonated with her own experience growing up and solidified her desire to explore developmental economics and data science to better understand how poverty occurs and how to mitigate it, especially through policy impact.

Romero, who grew up on the Northwest Side of Chicago, transferred out of her neighborhood school system to a different elementary school in second grade and eventually moved to a college preparatory school — both in a farther-away part of the city — in order to gain access to better educational opportunities. These decisions required commitment and sacrifice on Romero’s part, meaning long daily commutes by bus and train and even longer days, but proved to make all the difference in her educational trajectory.

“This story is common in schools within low-income neighborhoods, with limited resources, high student-teacher ratios, lack of enrichment programs, etc., and is a stark example of the socioeconomic disparities in public school education within large cities like Chicago,” Romero said.

“I wanted to get out of my neighborhood to find the best education I could in the city, and I don’t know if I would have made it into Notre Dame without that extra rigor, motivation and competition. It definitely prepared me for what I was going to experience here.”

In addition to being selected for two cohort-based programs, the AnBryce Scholars Initiative and the Sheedy Family Program in Economy, Enterprise, and Society, Romero is a Cavanaugh Council and President’s Circle Scholar, a Chicago Scholar and a QuestBridge match.

But Romero’s Notre Dame career was not all number-crunching and data analytics — she spent many memorable moments on stage performing with several campus dance troupes. She started dancing at age 4 in various styles including ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, Mexican folklórico, hip-hop, pom and others, and she continued this passion through TroopND Dance Team, RitmoND and Ballet Folklórico Azúl y Oro.

“I love that Notre Dame has given me this space to keep pursuing the hobbies that’ve been a part of my whole life,” she said, “especially being able to tap into my cultural roots with Mexican folklore and Latin dancing and to be able to showcase that aspect.”

After graduation, Romero plans to work at a boutique wealth management firm back in Chicago. She said what matters most to her for the future is to find a career that aligns with her values and allows her to help the same community from where she came.

“I always have in the back of my mind — how will my career fulfill me and how will it help other people?” Romero said.

“This institution has provided me with so many opportunities that I don’t think I would have received anywhere else,” Romero said. “The University’s mission is to be a force for good — and Notre Dame really wants to do that for its students of low income and students of color.

“I hope others can see from my example that they are not limited by their resources or their beginnings — that they can go to a good college, have a great job and be successful.”

Charlie Desnoyers is not your typical “legacy” student. Sure, his grandpa, Henry Desnoyers, was a Notre Dame alumnus. But to a young Desnoyers growing up in south suburban Chicago, Henry Thomas Desnoyers — “HT” to his friends — was just “Pop,” second-generation proprietor of Desnoyers Hardware, the oldest family-owned hardware store in South Dakota.

“I didn’t realize he went to Notre Dame until I was in high school, because he passed when I was 8 years old,” Desnoyers said of his father’s father, who died in 2012 from complications from ALS, which over the course of three long years left the proud family man and lifelong Catholic immobilized and unable to speak without technological assistance. “So, I never really knew much about his history.”

Still, he draws considerable inspiration from his grandpa, who in addition to running Desnoyers Hardware managed the family farm among the rolling hills of Clark County in eastern South Dakota.

“He was supposed to go to medical school, but his father passed away so he had to work in the family hardware, and that’s what he did for the rest of his life,” Desnoyers said. “That really inspired me, that level of sacrifice.”

Last fall, in honor of his grandpa, Desnoyers participated in the Chicago Marathon as part of Team ALS, finishing in an impressive 3 hours and 28 minutes. The team raised more than $660,000 for ALS United Illinois. He said he looks forward to running more in his honor.

An aspiring scientist, Desnoyers, who will graduate this month with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the College of Science, has shown the same level of dedication and passion for his studies, spending nearly as much time in the lab as in the classroom since arriving in South Bend.

A McNeill Common Good Fellow with the Institute for Social Concerns, he has collaborated with Marya Lieberman, the Nancy Dee Professor of Cancer Research, on a testing protocol for fentanyl test strips, and with Paul Bohn, the Arthur J. Schmitt professor of chemistry and biochemistry, on a method for isolating extracellular vesicles, with implications for safe and effective vaccine delivery and high-precision biological measurements.

With Bohn, he worked in Notre Dame’s nanofabrication facility, a world-class teaching and research clean room, to create arrays of nanoscopic holes in metal films, which he then used to conduct measurements of individual vesicles. It was a difficult experiment, he said, but one that yielded significant results.

Farther afield, he spent last summer working with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. in southwest rural Alaska — a remote area accessible only by plane.

“I worked on a few different projects there, but the motivation was understanding how we deliver efficient healthcare in low resource and rural communities,” he said.

He was especially interested in vaccine delivery, he said, which due to the inherent instability of many vaccines can be difficult in remote areas.

More recently, he traveled to Cyprus for several weeks to learn about the immigration situation there and efforts on the part of governments and religious and nonprofit organizations to address it.

His current research involves the causes of light-induced phase separation in mixed halide perovskites — a type of semiconductor material used in LEDs and solar cells — and the possibility of engineering these materials to function as tunable light sources.

In recognition of these and other efforts, Desnoyers was given the Dr. Norbert L. Weich Award in 2025. The award, recognizing excellence in academics and undergraduate research in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is given annually to an outstanding junior.

“Charlie is everything you’d want to see in an undergraduate research colleague — smart, innately curious and genuinely excited about research,” Bohn said. “He displays all of the traits that will set him up for a successful Ph.D., and I am truly excited to see what he accomplishes in the next phases of his career.”

Looking ahead, Desnoyers has been accepted into a doctoral program in chemistry at Northwestern University, where he will continue investigating questions regarding light-matter interactions at the nanoscale starting this fall.

He credits Notre Dame, in part, for his success.

“Notre Dame is a great place to learn both inside and outside of the classroom,” he said, adding, “It makes great scientists but it also makes great humans.”

Surely, “Pop” would be proud.

Among this year’s winners, two are Gilman-McCain Scholars, representing students whose parents are active duty military. One is a STEM enhancement recipient and two are Critical Need Language enhancement recipients. Enhancement recipients submit an extra essay and earn up to $2,000 in additional funding.

The winners worked closely with Notre Dame’s Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) in applying for the award.

“When I first began working for Notre Dame in 2017, I met with a total of three Gilman applicants throughout the year. I am incredibly happy to see how far we have come as an institution in terms of supporting students who are interested in this award,” said Elise Rudt-Moorthy, CUSE’s associate director of national fellowships. “Through the outreach efforts of the Office of Financial Aid and Notre Dame Global, the Gilman Scholarship has earned name recognition among students, and through the hard work of Gilman application advisors like Assistant Director Mathilda Nassar and Academic Advisor Grace Song, we made sure last year’s applicants had timely and carefully crafted feedback. I hope to continue improving our offerings to Gilman applicants in years to come.”

Chosen as part of a highly competitive selection process, Gilman Scholars spend a year studying abroad. Upon returning to the U.S., they complete a follow-on service project to spread awareness of the program.

The Gilman Top Producer campaign recognizes U.S. colleges and universities for their dedication to providing global opportunities for American students with support from the Gilman Program. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the Institute of International Education, categorizes Gilman Top Producers by size, with a separate category for two-year institutions.

Established by an act of Congress, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship enables students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad, providing them with skills critical to U.S. national security and economic prosperity. The award covers tuition, room and board, books, local transportation, insurance, airfare and passport and visa fees up to $5,000. Students who study a critical-need language can apply for a supplemental award of up to $3,000.

For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.

This year, nine undergraduate students from disciplines across the University earned honors for their strong research skills and effective use of library resources and services in their course assignments, research projects and creative work.

“I am delighted to see the creative and diverse research demonstrated by this year’s winners,” said Margaret Meserve, Edward H. Arnold Dean of the Hesburgh Libraries. “The quality of undergraduate research at Notre Dame is extraordinary. Here in the Libraries, we’re proud to provide services, collections and spaces that support and inspire students as they grow as scholars.”

The award, sponsored annually by the Hesburgh Libraries, invites undergraduate students to submit a brief essay describing the many ways they used library resources for a project or assignment completed during summer 2025, fall 2025 or spring 2026.

Congratulations to the 2026 Library Research Award winners!

Capstone or Thesis Research

First Place – $2,500
Gabriela Sierocka, Senior
College of Arts & Letters, Computer Science

“I needed not just books but objects: the kind of primary materials that ask you to slow down, that resist the speed of digital research, that insist on being read with attention …The Hesburgh Libraries provided that, repeatedly and generously, in ways I could not have anticipated when I began.”

Second Place – $1,200
Kate Rafford, Senior
College of Arts & Letters, American Studies and Economics

“My thesis would not have been possible without the sources I found in the University Archives collection, further supported by library workshops, databases, search tools, print and digital resources and study spaces. I am very thankful to the library staff for guiding me through this journey and consistently supporting the resources that enable student success.”

General Research

First Place – $1,500
Maria Eduarda Grill da Silveira, Sophomore
Keough School of Global Affairs, Global Affairs and Economics

“When I first typed that research question into a blank document, what I could not have anticipated was how completely Hesburgh would shape the answer … Every resource appeared at the precise moment the research demanded it, not as a supplement to the project, but as its foundation.”

Second Place – $750
Sadie Johnston, Junior
Mendoza College of Business, Marketing and Spanish

“My project illustrates Hesburgh Library’s role as a catalyst in independent research — providing not only a physical space, but also an intellectual one for complex analysis, methodological mastery and creative, multidisciplinary inquiries.”

First Year Research

First Place – $1,500
Ada Duru Ak, Freshman
Keough School of Global Affairs, Global Affairs

“I do not think I could have pulled together the primary sources, the theoretical framework and the supporting details as effectively without Hesburgh’s resources … I am grateful for the way the library supports student research, and this project made me appreciate how much is here, and how much I would have missed without it.”

Second Place – $750
Maggie Sheehan, Freshman
College of Science, Biological Sciences and English

“When I submitted my final essay, my professor commented that it was well-researched. As I reflected on this comment, I realized that it was all due to the resources provided by the Hesburgh Library.”

Emerging Scholar - $500

Valeria Bautista Misakova, Senior
College of Science, Physics and American Studies

“Archival work continues to shape history as we understand it today, and I’m grateful to have been part of the growing effort, all due in part to the resources at Hesburgh Libraries.”

Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship Award Winners - $500

Yingxin (Cindy) Liu, Senior
College of Arts & Letters, Economics, Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics and Japanese

“Throughout my research journey, Hesburgh Library offered stable computing resources for data analysis, workshops on academic writing and locating economic literature and access to librarians and curators who guided me in identifying reliable databases.”

Leina Ulutoa, Junior
College of Arts & Letters, Political Science and Japanese

“Having participated in VR through the Immersive Technologies Lab, my research project and presentation became available in interactive, stimulating and powerful ways.”

Martin Soros of Bethesda, Maryland, has been selected as valedictorian, and Allison Elshoff of Valencia, California, has been named salutatorian of the 2026 University of Notre Dame graduating class.

The 181st University Commencement Ceremony will be held May 17 (Sunday) in Notre Dame Stadium for graduates and guests. During the ceremony, Soros will deliver the valedictory address and Elshoff will offer the invocation.

Soros, a student in the College of Engineering, has a major in civil engineering and minors in theology and education, schooling, and society. He holds a 3.966 grade point average.

He is a member of Notre Dame Students Empowering through Engineering Development, known as NDSEED, a program that fights poverty in rural communities by expanding access to healthcare and education through the design and construction of footbridges. He served as an assistant bridge designer during his sophomore year and as design manager his junior year. During summer 2025, he worked for two months in Papachacra, Bolivia, constructing the pedestrian bridge for which he had led the design.

Soros has also worked as a mechanical design intern at Notre Dame’s Innovation Lab and spent the summer after sophomore year as a construction intern on a project to build U.S. Army barracks in Fort Meade, Maryland.

Soros serves as a resident assistant for Coyle Hall and was the co-creator of the St. Olaf’s Ice Chapel on North Quad. The ice chapel, which made national headlines in February 2026, took Soros and co-creator Wesley Buonerba more than 70 hours to build — often in subzero temperatures — and drew more than 2,000 students for a special Mass on Candlemas.

The experience that has impacted him most, he said, has been the time he has spent at La Nazarena, a community center in Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, where his family is originally from. Run by the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, the center works with adults, families and children to break the cycle of poverty through programs in education, personal formation, workforce development and healthcare.

He first visited the center during the summer before his first year at Notre Dame — an experience that inspired him to change his major from aerospace engineering to civil engineering.

“Building planes is amazing, but it didn’t feel right for me after that summer,” he said. “I had found a home in that context, in that world, and I wanted something that was applicable to that. So, I looked around and realized some of the important things that are missing from that environment are infrastructure: roads, sewer systems, housing. I decided to study civil engineering so that I could contribute to solving those issues.”

Soros has returned to La Nazarena each summer and also teaches online English classes to adults at the center. Drawing on his civil engineering major, NDSEED experiences and interest in education and theology, he plans to continue to work as a manager at La Nazarena for at least two years after graduation.

“It’s funny because some people have said to me that I should think bigger,” Soros said. “But this doesn’t feel small to me. I feel called to be there, interacting with the people I’m helping. Whatever happens or wherever I am, I want to be in the grass roots as much as possible. For me, that means everything.”

Elshoff is a student in the Mendoza College of Business, with a major in business analytics and minors in the Hesburgh Program in Public Service, the Business Honors Program and impact consulting. She holds a 3.950 grade point average.

As co-president of the Innovation for Impact Club, Elshoff leads initiatives to support women’s education at Saint Bakhita’s Vocational Training Center in Kalongo, Uganda. Part of the Powerful Means Initiative, the club allows students to lead hands-on projects, organize fundraising campaigns and engage directly with global partners like Saint Bakhita’s.

Through her impact consulting minor, Elshoff also traveled to the training center in Uganda to connect with students during winter break of her junior year. The experience was pivotal, she said.

“It was one of those moments when I thought, ‘This is why I’m here at Notre Dame, to do this kind of work,’” she said. “And I took away as much from that experience as I offered. Getting to know the women of Saint Bakhita’s, first over Zoom and then in person, was transformative in ways that classroom instruction alone couldn’t have been.”

From her first year at Notre Dame, Elshoff has written for the student newspaper, the Observer, as a viewpoint columnist. This year, she launched a new series of faculty and staff profiles, titled “Off the Dome,” to showcase the people who help shape Notre Dame.

As a sophomore, Elshoff was selected as a member of the Cabinet of University Policy in Notre Dame Student Government. She has also served as a team lead for the Student International Business Council and for the Notre Dame Student Policy Network.

Elshoff has mentored middle school students in data science through the Early Bridges to Data Science program. And last fall, she became a peer leader in the Notre Dame Moreau First-Year Seminar program, where she served as a mentor to first-year undergraduates and led community-building initiatives.

Elshoff, who worked as a teaching assistant for several courses in Mendoza over the last two years, said that her hands-on experiences in education and mentorship have defined her Notre Dame experience.

“I think what sets Notre Dame apart from other schools is its focus on cultivating people’s character and their moral compass,” she said. “There has always been an emphasis not just on what we learn, but what the purpose of it is — how it will help us find fulfillment and help us improve the lives of other people. For me, that has been developing a passion for storytelling — especially for those whose stories are often overlooked. I don’t think I would have been able to find that perspective at a different school.”

Elshoff also served as a communications intern with the U.S. House of Representatives after her sophomore year. After studying abroad at University College Dublin during the spring of her junior year, Elshoff worked as a Government and Public Services intern at Deloitte in Washington, D.C., last summer. She will return to Deloitte to begin her career in government consulting after graduation.

As salutatorian, Elshoff will be prepared to deliver the valedictory address should Soros be unable to do so.

The Notre Dame valedictorian and salutatorian selection process, coordinated by the Office of Undergraduate Education in the Office of the Provost, begins by asking each college to nominate four students among those with the highest grade point averages and asking each school to nominate two students among those with the highest grade point averages. The colleges and schools submit to the Office of Undergraduate Education the names of these students and brief statements justifying the nominations. Those students are then invited to submit a resume and a draft of their valedictory address. A selection committee, consisting of representatives from each college and school, the Office of Undergraduate Education, the Division of Student Affairs, and Student Government, selects finalists. Finalists are asked to submit a draft of their invocation. The selection committee then interviews the finalists and chooses a valedictorian and salutatorian from among them, who are approved by University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.

Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, c.gates@nd.edu, 574-993-9220

The Key into Public Service Scholarship highlights the wide range of opportunities for arts, humanities, natural and social science and mathematics majors to pursue careers in the public sector.

A global affairs and Spanish double major with a minor in civil and human rights, Bofah worked closely with Notre Dame’s Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) in applying for the award.

“I want to congratulate Veronica on being named a 2026 Key into Public Service Scholar,” Mathilda Nassar, assistant director for national fellowships at CUSE. “Her excellent work ethic and deep commitment to justice is inspiring. I am excited to watch her growth as she pursues a career in civil rights law advocating for underserved and misrepresented communities.”

Bofah is a Melsheimer Student Fellow with the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights. She is a member of the Building Bridges Mentoring Program, the Student Policy Network, the Speech and Debate Team and Shades of Ebony. She is the DEI commissioner for Ryan Hall and a lifeguard for RecSports.

Through Notre Dame Santiago, she conducted research on the relationship between AI and human rights in post-dictatorship Chile as part of the Nuestra MemorIA project at Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile. She also volunteered at a community center in Santiago.

Closer to campus, Bofah worked with the South Bend Reparatory Justice Commission to research the history of housing discrimination in South Bend, helping to shape the commission’s recommendations to the city for addressing historical injustices in housing.

Currently, she is a policy and legislation fellow with the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington, D.C., with the long-term goal of attending law school and pursuing a career as a civil rights attorney.

“I am deeply honored to be named a Phi Beta Kappa Society Key into Public Service Scholar,” Bofah said. “To me, this award represents my efforts to connect my academic foundations and my passions to build more resilient, equitable communities. I am incredibly thankful for the guidance of Notre Dame’s CUSE office, whose mentorship helped me reflect on how my journey here has prepared me for this next chapter. I look forward to utilizing the society’s expertise to advocate for change and serve as a catalyst for progress in the public sector.”

For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.

Blakey was a towering figure in criminal law, legislation and legal education. His career spanned more than five decades of public service, teaching and litigation, including service at the highest levels of the federal government and a distinguished tenure in academia, including 37 years on the faculty of Notre Dame Law School.

Widely regarded as the nation’s foremost authority on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), he helped shape the legal framework used to combat organized crime, public corruption and complex financial offenses.

“Few have had as significant an impact on modern criminal law as Professor Robert Blakey,” said G. Marcus Cole, the Joseph A. Matson Dean of Notre Dame Law School and professor of law. “Through his work, he helped shape the field in profound ways. At Notre Dame Law School, he served for decades as a devoted teacher and mentor, forming generations of students with both intellectual rigor and a deep commitment to justice. A devout Catholic, he lived a life of purpose and service to others. We give thanks for his life and pray for him, his family and all those who were blessed to know him.”

Blakey taught and mentored thousands of students, first as a member of Notre Dame Law School faculty from 1964 to 1969, then as a professor at Cornell Law School, and returning to Notre Dame from 1980 to 2012. He taught courses in criminal law and procedure, federal criminal law, terrorism and jurisprudence, and was known for his rigorous intellect, deep commitment to justice and dedication to his students.

He also played a significant role in shaping the Law School’s faculty, recruiting a number of professors who continue to have a lasting impact today. In 1985, he was named the William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Professor of Law, and moved to emeritus status in December 2012.

After his initial years on the Law School faculty, Blakey took on a central role in the development of federal criminal law as chief counsel to the U.S. Subcommittee on Criminal Laws and Procedures. In that position, he drafted Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), as well as the Title III federal wiretapping statute, and went on to contribute to other significant federal and state criminal legislation over the course of his career.

Blakey’s public service spanned decades and multiple branches of government. He served as an organized crime consultant to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. He later served as chief counsel and staff director of the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations, investigating the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and helped draft the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. He also worked in the 1980s as special counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and as a consultant to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, focusing on white-collar crime control.

Blakey received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1957 and his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 1960. He began his legal career at the U.S. Department of Justice as a special attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Criminal Division, where, under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, he helped prosecute organized crime figures as well as corrupt public officials and union leaders.

Blakey is survived by his children Michael Blakey, Elizabeth Blakey, Marie Blakey, John Blakey (and wife Christina), Katherine Cox (and husband Michael), Christine Coury, and Margaret Clarke (and husband Kevin), as well as 18 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. All of his children are graduates of the University of Notre Dame and three are graduates of Notre Dame Law School. He was preceded in death by his wife, Elaine Menard Blakey, and his son, Matthew Blakey.

Funeral services will be held later this year at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

Originally published by Notre Dame Law School at law.nd.edu on May 05, 2026.

University of Notre Dame historian Katlyn Carter has won a 2026 Andrew Carnegie Fellowship, the Carnegie Corporation of New York announced Tuesday (May 5).

Carter, an associate professor in the Department of History, was one of 24 scholars and writers from a record 381 nominees to receive the honor. The fellowship includes a two-year grant of up to $200,000 to support research for her second book, “The Politics of Truth in Early America,” and to develop an undergraduate course aimed at the fellowship’s theme of understanding and addressing political polarization in the United States. The stipend is among the most generous of its kind, and previous Carnegie fellows have received numerous honors for their research, such as the Nobel Prize and National Book Award.

“Concern about the declining importance of truth in American politics is a crisis that can feel new to us, but Katlyn’s scholarship is a reminder that this phenomenon has existed since the founding of our country,” said Kenneth Scheve, the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts & Letters and a professor of political science. “I’m thrilled that the Carnegie Corporation is supporting her vital research on this topic, which will provide a much-needed historical lens to a question that is so fundamental to contemporary social and political life.”

A historian of 18th-century America and France, Carter explores research topics inspired by issues that feel intractable in our politics today, she said.

In her first book, “Democracy in Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions,” Carter explored how decisions and debates about the place of secrecy in politics during early American and French revolutionary history shaped representative democracy and addressed the realities of what it meant to make government transparent in practice.

The book earned the Gilbert Chinard Book Prize from the Society for French Historical Studies, was shortlisted for the Rodel Institute’s Edwards Book Award for its outstanding contribution to the understanding and practice of democracy and American politics and received an honorable mention for the Louis Gottschalk Prize by the American Society for 18th Century Studies.

Through that project, Carter began developing questions about the origins of truth and trust as they related to the press and government — specifically in the United States.

“It’s one thing to say this group of people met in secret and talked about this, and that became a flash point. It’s another thing for people to say, ‘those people are lying to you, and I’m telling you the truth,’” Carter said. “And I just started getting really interested in tracing that in early American political debates and rhetoric.”

In “The Politics of Truth in Early America,” Carter will examine those large topics of truth, trust, communication technology and politics in early American history by exploring digital archives and traveling to historic research centers and libraries in Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, London, Paris and Washington, D.C.

She will also take the time to develop a course tentatively titled The Politics of Truth: A History, which will aim to “historicize some of the tough questions that we’re wrestling with today about truth and politics.”

“I want to try to take those challenges and try to break students out of this rigid political binary that we’re in right now by taking these difficult questions and translating them to history,” Carter said. “I just don’t think we can understand these challenges without understanding the history of those problems, of the political system we live in or of the way people have thought about these questions in the past.”

The Carnegie Fellowship class of 2026 is the third cohort focused on developing a body of rigorous, evidence-based research about what can be done to strengthen the forces of cohesion in the United States, an overarching priority for the foundation’s grant-making. The 2026 class also includes Notre Dame alumnus Wayde Marsh, who received a Ph.D. in political science in 2022 and is now an assistant professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

With support from the Notre Dame Office of the Provost and the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good, Carter became the fourth Notre Dame faculty member to receive a Carnegie Fellowship. David Campbell, the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy, and Atalia Omer, professor of religion, conflict and peace studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs, both won in 2017, and political scientist Sarah Zukerman Daley won in 2018.

“There was a team of people at Notre Dame who are really skilled at what they’re doing and who really helped me deliver the message clearly and connect to the theme of the fellowship,” Carter said. “Important research and scholarship that connects with people and helps inform and work on current challenges takes time. This fellowship actually gives researchers time to read and think, which is increasingly rare in a society that really likes to push for efficiency and going fast. That’s really valuable.”

In announcing these appointments, Board Chair John Veihmeyer said, “The election of these exceptionally talented leaders further strengthens our Board of Trustees and Board of Fellows. Their diverse experiences and deep commitment to Notre Dame’s unique Catholic character will provide essential perspective as we navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead. On behalf of the entire Board, I welcome our new colleagues and thank them for their dedication to Our Lady’s University.”

“We are profoundly grateful to Claire, Chris, Bishop Pat and Paulita for their willingness to serve the University of Notre Dame in these vitally important governance roles,” said University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. “Each brings a remarkable breadth of leadership that will be invaluable to the Board’s work. I look forward to working closely with them in advancing Notre Dame’s distinctive mission.”

Babineaux-Fontenot is the former chief executive officer of Feeding America, the nation’s largest charity, distributing food to more than 49 million people facing hunger each year. Prior to joining Feeding America, Babineaux-Fontenot was executive vice president of finance and global treasurer at Walmart. She is the 2024 recipient of the Laetare Medal, the University’s most prestigious award given each year to an American Catholic.

Babineaux-Fontenot holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, a Juris Doctor from Southern University Law Center, and a Master of Laws in taxation from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. She and her husband, Barry Fontenot, have two children.

Admiral Grady retired in 2025 after 41 years of distinguished service in the United States Navy. From 2021 to 2025 he served as the 12th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s second-highest-ranking military officer. He also held the position of acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from February to April 2025. From April 2021 to September 2025, he was the Navy’s “Old Salt,” the longest-serving surface warfare officer on active duty.

Grady graduated from Notre Dame with an undergraduate degree in history and received his commission through Notre Dame’s Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. He also holds master’s degrees from Georgetown University, where he participated as a fellow in foreign service at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, and the National War College. He and his wife, Christine, are the parents of three children, including two Notre Dame graduates.

Elected to the Board of Fellows, Bishop Neary was appointed as the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, by the late Pope Francis in December 2022. Prior to this appointment, he served as pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in Portland, Oregon, and spent eight years in leadership of the Congregation of Holy Cross seminary in Nairobi, Kenya, and as district superior of Holy Cross in East Africa. Since 2025, he has served as chair of the board of Catholic Relief Services.

Bishop Neary earned an undergraduate degree in history from Notre Dame, and completed his Master of Divinity degree at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California. He was ordained a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1991.

Elected a Fellow, Pike has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2022. She serves as managing partner of the Chicago office of the law firm Ropes & Gray and is a partner in its asset management group, representing registered fund products and counseling boards of directors on governance, regulatory risks, industry trends and insurance matters.

She earned her bachelor’s and law degrees from Notre Dame and teaches courses in mutual fund regulation at Notre Dame Law School and the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She and her husband, Zulfiqar Bokhari, who also holds two degrees from the University, are parents of two children, one of them a Notre Dame student.

Composed of six laywomen and laymen and six priests of Notre Dame’s founding religious community, the Congregation of Holy Cross, the Board of Fellows is the University’s highest governing body. The Fellows elect the Trustees, adopt and amend the bylaws and are specifically charged with maintaining Notre Dame’s Catholic character.

“I’m honored to have been selected to serve on the EPA Science Advisory Board,” Doudrick said. “The board plays an important role in providing independent, research-based guidance on complex environmental issues, helping ensure that decisions are informed by the best available evidence and remain practical for communities.”

Doudrick, a faculty affiliate of Notre Dame Energy and Notre Dame’s Environmental Change Initiative, is the only academic researcher among the selected board members who are from Indiana.

An environmental engineer, Doudrick specializes in emerging contaminants of concern in drinking water, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — also called “forever chemicals” — and micro- and nanoplastics. His work focuses on identifying viable, cost-effective solutions to treat emerging contaminants and improve conventional water treatment processes.

“We aim to target and eliminate these contaminants in ways that are both effective and fiscally responsible, which is increasingly important as utilities and regulators navigate these challenges,” Doudrick said. His lab is currently working on multiple PFAS-related projects, including a study of PFAS leaching from contaminated pavements into the surrounding environment.

“Kyle Doudrick’s appointment to the EPA’s Science Advisory Board is outstanding news for public health and the environment,” said Patricia J. Culligan, the Matthew H. McCloskey Dean of the College of Engineering. “His expertise on the critical environmental problems of microplastics and PFAS will be critical to protecting vital resources upon which we all depend.”

Doudrick earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in civil engineering at the University of Memphis. He completed his doctoral studies in environmental engineering at Arizona State University. He joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2014.

To learn more about Notre Dame’s engagement in the nation’s capital, visit the Washington Office website. To learn more about Doudrick’s research, read the story “The Forever Problem: A Real Mess,” produced by the Office of Public Affairs and Communications.

Contact: Brandi Wampler, associate director of media relations, 574-631-2632, brandiwampler@nd.edu

Originally published by Erin Fennessy at research.nd.edu on April 30.

In the United States, ample attention was given to the novelty of how dads, in particular, were getting much more time to participate in the daily, often mundane and yet intimate tasks of child-rearing. Many people hoped that the change would persist, allowing dads more time and flexibility in the long term — ultimately reshaping how we view fatherhood in general.

However, according to new research from anthropologist and fatherhood expert Lee Gettler of the University of Notre Dame, those fathering benefits have not outlasted the pandemic itself.

“COVID didn’t really lead to a large-scale uptick in this new vision for fathering on the part of dads across the board,” said Gettler, the Rev. John A. O’Brien College Professor of Anthropology and chair of the Department of Anthropology, as well as an affiliated faculty at the Eck Institute for Global Health and the William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families.

“I think what’s been missing from many of those initial reports was a wider perspective on what the realities are for families and fathers in the United States and around the world following the pandemic,” he said, “especially as we think about common jobs for men, precarity in the workplace and economic inequality.”

To address those gaps in understanding, Gettler and his team, which included co-author and postdoctoral research associate Sarah Hoegler Dennis, relied on 15 years of longitudinal data to compare fathers’ pre-COVID to post-COVID behaviors. The researchers looked at this data from a non-Euro-American perspective in a major metropolitan area in the Philippines.

What they found was that fathering behaviors, for the most part, did not change much before COVID began versus shortly after the pandemic ended.

“There was this idea out there that a meaningful percentage of dads were spending more time with their kids during the lockdown periods, even if they were still working, and that the dynamics of COVID would lead to this long-term effect on what and how much dads were doing within their families,” Gettler said. “And we just didn’t see that prevailing change.”

The research team drew on a large sample of men who were around 25 years old at the start of the study and followed them for the next 15 years as part of a larger set of research in Cebu, Philippines. Gettler and his team have been studying fathering and the “biology of fatherhood” as part of this project for close to 20 years, and have found that fathers in Cebu have become much more involved in the past few decades, mirroring father involvement in the United States.

During the pandemic, the Philippines also had one of the longest lockdown periods in the world, according to Gettler, with some of the most strict, government-mandated quarantine guidelines in place, making this an appropriate site to test for the effects of the stay-at-home orders on fathering.

“There are questions remaining about how we can continue to encourage dads in dual-parent families to pull their weight, be a supportive partner or to balance the responsibilities of what it takes to run a household and take care of young children. COVID exposed or habituated more dads to what that can look like, but now we need to enable them to continue that behavior.”

The researchers used waves of socio-demographic and fathers’ caregiving data collected prior to the pandemic (2009 and 2014) and after the pandemic (2022-23). The main analyses focused on caregiving changes over time for fathers who had young children at home both pre- and post-pandemic, looking at how involved they were with routine, hands-on care for babies and young children, recreational play and activities, and educational caregiving tasks.

“What we found is that COVID — and the time dads spent at home with their children during that period — did not change fathering in any lasting way,” Gettler said. “As soon as life gets back to normal, we see that dads are continuing to do the same thing they were doing before COVID.”

With one exception, Gettler noted.

For the group of fathers who found themselves going from employed to either unemployed or underemployed because of the pandemic, their involvement with their children’s educational care shot up noticeably, and the change persisted.

“We see this link with employment status and fathers’ ability to spend more time helping kids with school work and homework,” Gettler said. “But that’s the only hint that the conditions surrounding COVID may have contributed to some sort of change in what dads are doing at home.”

At the end of the day, dad’s employment status is the primary predictor for how much care he is providing, Gettler said. He believes that policy changes within the workplace — such as paid paternity leave and widespread flexibility on working from home or setting working hours — might lead to a more lasting change in fatherhood behavior. These structural changes could support permanent shifts in expectations and norms for men as caregivers, and open up more opportunities for dads to get — and stay — involved.

Gettler argued that society needs to recognize how it can better support dads and give them the chance to be more available at home, without the caveat of having to become unemployed or underemployed in order to enjoy such chances to be with their families.

“There are questions remaining about how we can continue to encourage dads in dual-parent families to pull their weight, be a supportive partner or to balance the responsibilities of what it takes to run a household and take care of young children,” Gettler said. “COVID exposed or habituated more dads to what that can look like, but now we need to enable them to continue that behavior.”

Gettler, who is also director of the Hormones, Health, and Human Behavior Lab, works with collaborators at multiple global sites and is an expert on fatherhood and healthy families, including the psychobiology of motherhood and fatherhood and parents’ physical and mental health, as well as child growth, development and physiology. Presently, Gettler works on research projects related to these interests in the United States, the Philippines and the Republic of the Congo.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Kuzmich brings experience across venture philanthropy, national policy and organizational leadership. Most recently, she served as a managing director at the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, where she partnered with social entrepreneurs to help scale high-impact organizations.

Previously, Kuzmich was executive director of the George W. Bush Institute, where she led a 45-person team and guided the organization’s strategic direction. She also held senior roles in the federal government, including assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education and associate director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.

“Holly brings an exceptional combination of leadership, policy expertise and commitment to evidence that will help shape LEO’s next chapter,” said Jim Sullivan, co-founder of LEO and director of the University’s Poverty Initiative. “As we expand our partnerships and deepen our impact, her experience scaling organizations and navigating complex systems will be critical to ensuring that what we learn translates into meaningful change for the communities we serve.”

Her work has focused on using data and evidence to inform decision-making and improve outcomes at scale — an approach closely aligned with LEO’s mission to reduce poverty through evidence-based solutions.

“The evidence that LEO produces is vitally important to our nation’s poverty-fighting organizations — and, most importantly, to those living in poverty — as well as policymakers and philanthropy,” Kuzmich said. “LEO has quickly become a national leader, and I’m excited to build on its foundation and scale what works. I can’t imagine a better institution than Notre Dame to take on this bold and important mission.”

Kuzmich will relocate to South Bend, her childhood hometown, as she steps into the role. She joins LEO as the organization continues to expand its partnerships and advance the use of evidence in policy and practice.

Originally published by Kathryn Desai at leo.nd.edu on April 28.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu