Notre Dame president to join Purdue President Chiang for fireside chat Feb. 29 as part of Presidential Lecture Series

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., who has served as president of the University of Notre Dame for nearly two decades, will join Purdue President Mung Chiang on Feb. 29 for a fireside chat as part of the Presidential Lecture Series. 

Jenkins, who is stepping down at the end of this academic year, has boosted Notre Dame’s research funding since being named president in 2005. He also led Notre Dame’s efforts to join the Association of American Universities, an invitation-only organization representing top research universities. Notre Dame is the nation’s only religiously affiliated university to be so honored.  

The public event, titled “A Fireside Chat With Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame,” is at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 29, in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. While the lecture is free, a general admission ticket will be required.

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“Father Jenkins has combined his commitment to teaching and research with the distinctive mission of a major university to provide an undergraduate and graduate education that equips the whole of our next generation of leaders,” Chiang said. “What an honor it will be to share the Purdue stage with one of this nation’s outstanding missional leaders in the world of higher education.” 

Additional information

• Purdue Presidential Lecture Series
• About Father Jenkins, president of University of Notre Dame
• Purdue President Mung Chiang
• About Father Dowd, incoming president of University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame secured almost $216 million in research awards in fiscal 2023, up from $95.8 million in 2013, and is now among the fastest-growing research universities in the nation. Funding was distributed over 824 awards, the university’s highest-ever number in one year.

Recognizing the high cost of education, Notre Dame has dramatically increased financial aid over the past 15 years, meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need for every student. The university provides more than $200 million in aid for undergraduates, a number that has doubled in the past decade, with 60% of all students receiving aid.

During the last decade, Notre Dame, in partnership with local civic and industry leaders, has played a leading role in a regional strategy that has secured over $130 million in grants for economic development activities.

Jenkins is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A popular teacher, he has taught courses on ancient and medieval philosophy, faith and reason, and Thomas Aquinas. He also has served on the independent Commission on College Basketball, led by Condoleezza Rice,  and on the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities board of directors.

A philosopher trained in theology who has been a member of Notre Dame’s Department of Philosophy since 1990, Jenkins earned undergraduate and advanced degrees from Notre Dame, a doctorate of philosophy from Oxford University, and a master of divinity and licentiate in sacred theology from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley in California. 

Jenkins is the author of the 2007 book “Knowledge and Faith in Thomas Aquinas” and has published scholarly articles in The Journal of Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy and Theology, and the Journal of Religious Ethics.  

Rev. Robert A. Dowd was selected to succeed Jenkins on July 1, becoming Notre Dame’s 18th president. Dowd currently is Notre Dame’s vice president and associate provost for interdisciplinary initiatives, a position he’s held since 2021. Notre Dame has had only three presidents preceding Dowd in the last 70 years — Jenkins, Rev. Edward Malloy and Rev. Theodore Hesburgh.

Jenkins will return to teaching and ministry at the Roman Catholic institution on July 1, when the 2023-24 academic year comes to a close.

The C.S.C. abbreviation after Jenkins’ name is for the Latin “Congregatio a Sancta Cruce,” which means “Congregation of Holy Cross.”

About the Presidential Lecture Series

Launched in 2014 by then-Purdue President Mitch Daniels and continued by President Mung Chiang, the Presidential Lecture Series exposes Purdue students and the broader community to inspiring ideas, courageous leadership and models of civic engagement and civil discourse. The Presidential Lecture Series has had over 40 guests of many viewpoints and perspectives and hosted some of the great intellectual, business and civic leaders of our time. As one of the world’s premier centers of scholarly leadership, Purdue is — appropriately and necessarily — a regular venue for great thinkers across a wide variety of disciplines.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes — https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.

Writer and media contact: Phillip Fiorini, pfiorini@purdue.edu, 765-430-6189